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TESTIMONY 

OF 

NINETEEN     CENTURIES 

TO 

JESUS   OF   NAZARETH. 


AN   UNRIVALLED   AND    UNIQUE   COLLECTION    OF 

RARE    AND    REMARKABLE    TRIBUTES    FROM    MANY    COUNTRIES    AND 

CENTURIES,  WHICH  THE  RESEARCH  AND  GENIUS,  THE  LEARNING 

AND  DEVOTION,  OF  MORE  THAN  THREE   HUNDRED  EMINENT 

SCHOLARS,   STATESMEN,   ORATORS,   PHILOSOPHERS,  AND 

DIVINES  HAVE  PAID  TO  THE  FAULTLESS  CHARACTER, 

PEERLESS  LIFE,  AND  SPIRITUAL  INFLUENCE 


THE   FOUNDER  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


CAREFULLY  COMPILED,  WITHOUT  SECTARIAN  BIAS.  FROM  THE  CHRISTIAN 
LITERATURES  OF  EUROPE  AND  AMERICA. 


BY 

JAMES   HERMAN   WHITMORE, 

AUTHOR   OF   THE    "DOCTRINE   OF   IMMORTALITY,"   ETC. 


7^/T 


ILLUSTRATED. 

WITHDRAWN  FROM 
UNIVERSlTr  ^r  REDLAiNDS  LIBRARY 

NORWICH,  CONN.: 
THE   HENRY   BILL   PUBLISHING   COMPANY. 


&  1  5/22 


Ij 


Copyright,  i88S, 
By  the  Henry  Bill  Publishing  Company. 


a 


^A'A*>s>ja. 


/!//  rights  reserved. 


OLD 


SOLD  ONLY  BY  SUBSCRIPTION. 


RANIl   AVERY   COMPANY. 

PRINTERS.    ELECTR0TYPER3,    DlNDERa 

BOSTON. 


To  make  Jesus  better  known  is  to  make  him  better  loved, 
and  the  love  of  Jesus  is  the  sanctity  of  the  Church. 

Frederick  William  Faber. 


The  great  impulse  which  is  to  carry  forward  the  human 
race  is  the  Character  of  Jesus,  understood  ever  more  clearly, 
and  ever  more  deeply  felt. 

William  Ellery  Channing. 


Christ's  character  grows  more  pure,  sacred,  and  lovely,  the 
better  we  know  him.  The  whole  range  of  history  and  fiction 
furnishes  no  parallel  to  it.  Christ  is  the  glory  of  the  past, 
the  life  of  the  present,  the  hope  of  the  future.  We  cannot 
even  understand  ourselves  without  him. 

Philip  Schaff. 


iVil24302 


I   HAVE  only  made  a  nosegay  of   culled   flowers,  and  have 
brought   nothing  of  my  own   but   the   thread   that   ties   them 

together.  Montaigne, 

Book  III.,  Ch.  12. 


A  PARALLEL  IS  mcasurcd  from  east  to  west,  or  from  north 
to  south  ;   but  a  book  is  measured  from  earth  to  heaven. 

JOUBERT. 


PREFACE. 

Never  before  has  there  been  among  all  classes  of 
people  such  an  interest  in  the  life,  character,  words,  and 
influence  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  now.  Men  everywhere  are 
coming  more  and  more  to  recognize  the  important  fact, 
that  Christ  is  Christianity,  and  that  his  character  is  its 
central  evidence.  To  emphasize  and  illustrate  these  great 
cardinal  truths,  and  to  meet  and  increase  the  public  interest 
in  them,  to  the  end  that  the  Master  and  his  religion,  as  he 
taught  it  to  men,  may  be  more  loved,  honored,  and  revered, 
have  been  the  objects  aimed  at  in  the  preparation  of  this 
volume. 

In  the  prosecution  of  this  aim,  I  have  endeavored  to 
include  as  little  extraneous  and  irrelevant  matter  as  pos- 
sible, and  to  avoid,  as  far  as  was  practicable,  the  discussion 
of  controverted  questions  in  theology. 

I  begin,  as  I  thought  it  most  suitable  to  do,  with  some 
of  the  more  remarkable  passages  from  the  Gospels,  in 
which  Jesus  bears  witness  to  himself  and  to  the  character 
and   object   of  his  mission. 

These  testimonies  of  Jesus  form  an  essential  part  of 
the  Gospel  record,  and  give  us,  in  the  light  of  his  perfect 
self-consciousness,  the  most  authoritative  statements  con- 
cerning himself  and  his  religion  that  we  possess.  Taken 
with  their  contexts,  they  form  the  basis  of  all  Christian 
literature,  and  are  incomparably  the  most  precious  words 
ever  spoken  to  men. 

Next  I  place  selections  from  the  testimonies  borne  by 
the  writers  of  the  Four  Gospels.  The  biographies  of  Jesus, 
given  by  the  Evangelists,  though  brief,  and  lacking  nearly 
every  quality  considered  requisite  by  the  best  modern 
biographers,  are  the  despair  of  criticism,  and  the  greatest 
wonders  in  literature.  Without  a  single  word  descriptive 
of  the  personal  appearance  of  the  great  Teacher,  with  no 
direct  or  elaborate  encomiums  on  his  character,  without 
even  mentioning  the  occurrence  of  any  event  during  nine- 


6  PREFACE. 

tenths  of  his  life,  with  no  exclamations  of  wonder  at  his 
marvellous  works,  without  denunciation  of  his  enemies  or 
eulogies  of  his  friends,  they  have  portrayed  the  most  dis- 
tinctly conceived,  the  most  clearly  outlined,  and  incontest- 
ably  the  most  perfect  character  in  history.  No  other 
writings  bear  in  themselves,  and  in  the  effects  they  have 
produced  in  the  world,  such  strong  and  convincing  evidence 
that  their  writers  were  inspired  of  God. 

These  testimonies  from  the  Gospels,  together  with 
selections  from  other  books  of  the  New  Testament,  are 
thus  given  to  show  how  a  continuous  reading  of  pertinent 
passages  from  the  only  original  sources  of  information  rep- 
resents the  person,  character,  and  mission  of  Christ,  and 
to  serve  as  an   appropriate   introduction   to  what  follows. 

I  anticipate  and  fully  share  the  disappointment  any 
reader  may  feel  at  the  meagre  results  of  my  studies  of  the 
writers  and  preachers  of  the  early  centuries,  and  of  those 
preceding  the  Reformation,  I  obtained  far  less,  too,  than 
I  expected  from  the  great  theologians  and  writers  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries.  I  have  some  very 
good  material  from  the  eighteenth  century ;  but  the  litera- 
ture of  our  own  time  is  very  rich  in  character  studies  of 
Christ,  and  my  selections  from  it  have  been  correspondingly 
numerous,   and,   I   trust,   satisfactory. 

I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  say,  that  denominationalism 
has  had  no  influence  in  determining  the  acceptability  of 
any  witness.  The  writers  have  not  been  divided  into  schools 
of  theology,  nor  ranged  under  sectarian  banners ;  but  who- 
ever has  had  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  wisest,  bright- 
est, truest,  most  inspiring  witness  to  bear  to  the  character 
and   inlhience  of  the  Saviour,  has  been  gratefully  welcomed. 

In  a  few  instances  I  have  quoted  briefly  some  illustrious 
writer,  not  so  much  for  the  intrinsic  worth  of  his  testimony, 
as  tor  the  evidence  it  gave  that  he  was  wholly  and  heartily 
a  believer  in   historical   and   s])iritual   Christianity. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  have  given  not  a  few  passages, 
and  some  of  them  at  considerable  length,  from  writers  not 
widely  known,  whose  names  are  not  in  Allibone  or  in  any 
other  biographical  dictionary,  solely  because  of  their  great 
excelK-nce. 

I  hope,  however,  it  will  not  l)e  inferred,  that  I  value 
these  testimonies  in'  proportion  to  tlie  space  they  severally 
occupy;  for,  while  I  havc^  not  in  a  single  instance  given  a 
passage   of  unusual  length  where  I   did   not   think   its  great 


PREFACE.  7 

worth  justified  it,  some  of  the  most  exquisite  and  intrinsic- 
ally valuable  tributes  occupy  but  a  single  page,  or  less. 

Knowing  that  the  value  of  this  collection  depends  not  only 
on  the  judiciousness  with  which  its  selections  have  been  made, 
but  also  largely  upon  the  confidence  that  the  reader  may  have 
that  they  have  been  accurately  quoted  and  fairly  embody  their 
authors'  sentinients,  I  would  say  that  I  have  personally  veri- 
fied all  the  quotations,  by  carefully  comparing  them  with  the 
books  or  other  sources  to  which  they  have  been  credited,  and 
believe  them  to  be  not  only  substantially  but  verbally  accurate 
as  given. 

There  have  been  evidently  sincere  eulogists  of  Christ,  as 
Strauss  and  Renan,  who  nevertheless  were  not  believers  in 
historical  Christianity.  Their  testimony  to  the  beauty  and 
excellence  of  his  character  has.  in  some  respects,  greater 
evidential  value  for  this  reason,  though  their  consistency 
cannot  be  defended. 

I  have  included  the  testimonies  ascribed  to  Flavins  Jose- 
phus  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  though  accompanying  them 
with  notes  explaining  that  their  genuineness  has  been 
questioned. 

As  ministering  directly  or  incidentally  to  the  main  design 
of  the  work,  there  are  three  special  uses  that  may  be  sub- 
served by  this  collection. 

1.  As  a  book  for  devotional  reading,  it  will  have  great 
value.  Not  only  are  selections  given  from  Augustine,  A 
Kempis,  Tauler,  Leigh  ton,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Law,  and  Scougal ; 
but  there  are  scores  of  others  not  less  rich  than  these  in 
devotional  thought.  There  are  many  masterpieces  of  sacred 
oratory,  eloquent  summaries  of  Christian  faith,  and  inspiring 
exhortations  to  the  imitation  of  Christ. 

2.  As  a  book  of  Christian  evidences.  ThouQfh  it  contains 
no  formal  essays  or  elaborate  treatises  on  the  truth  of  Christi- 
anity, yet  it  gives,  in  many  forms  of  statement,  the  results  of 
the  studies  on  this  subject  of  some  of  the  greatest  think- 
ers, profoundest  scholars,  and  most  learned  theologians  of 
Christendom. 

3.  As  a  book  of  apt  and  striking  illustrations  of  Christian 
truth.  This  feature  will  prove  one  of  great  value  to  all 
readers,  but  will  be  especially  useful  to  those  engaged  in 
religious  teaching.  There  are  a  very  large  number  of  fresh, 
forcible,  and  suggestive  comparisons,  contrasts,  similes,  meta- 
phors, illustrative  examples  of  the  various  virtues,  and  such  a 
variety  of  impressive  studies  of  Christ's  character,  connecting 


8  PREFACE. 

it  with  every  genuine  interest  of  life,  that  the  book  cannot 
fail  to  be  of  great  and  constant  use  to  writers,  public  speakers, 
and  teachers. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  the  general  reader,  if  not  to  the 
student  and  the  scholar,  if  I  indicate  some  examples  of 
various  special  excellences  to  be  found  in  this  volume.  While 
nearly  all  of  the  writers  deal  more  or  less  with  the  Christian 
evidences  in  some  form.  —  for  the  main  object  of  the  book 
is  to  show  and  emphasize  the  evidential  value  of  Christ's 
character,  —  yet  there  are  some  passages  chosen  from  the 
writings  of  specially  equipped  scholars,  bearing  directly  on 
the  genuineness  and  authenticity  of  the  Gospels,  that  are  so 
suggestive,  so  fair,  so  comprehensive,  so  convincing,  so  pro- 
found, that  their  value  to  the  non-professional  but  tair-minded 
and  intelligent  reader  can  hardly  be  over-estimated. 

Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the  selections  from 
Hartley.  Burgh,  W'hately,  Greenleaf,  Verplanck,  Miiller, 
Barnes,  Hopkins,  Gibson,  J.  G.  Palfrey,  Row,  Cairns,  and 
Wright. 

For  elaborate  character  studies :  Newcome,  John  Harris, 
Barrow,  Furness,  Bushnell,  Young,  Schaft,  A.  P.  Peabody. 

For  devotional  thought  with  warmth  of  expression : 
William  Law,  Tholuck,  Ware,  Adams,  Godet,  Channing, 
Ta\ler,  Godman,  E.  P.  Rogers,  Vinet,  Armitage,  Brooke, 
Dale,  Spurgeon. 

For  spiritual  insight :  Isaac  Taylor,  Frances  Power  Cobbe, 
Lange.   Drummond.   Caird,   Hayward. 

bor  freshness  of  thought  and  illustration  :  Guizot,  J.  W. 
Alexander,  Browne,  Chapin,  Thompson,  lohn  Williams, 
Blaikie,  Hedge,  Martensen,  Cazneau  Palfrey,  Goldwin  Smith, 
Bartol,  H.  A.  Abbott,  F""owle,  Arthur  Brooks. 

Vox  comj)relKMisiven('ss :  Reinhard,  Trench,  Coqucrel, 
Stalker,  Keim,  (Griffith,  Clarke,  Lotze,  Samuel  Harris,  Brace, 
Bruce. 

1^'or  jjrofound  thought,  briefly  expressed  :  Francis  Bacon, 
Hegel,  biclue.  Tischendorf,  Bunsen,  Ritschl,  Faber,  Sears. 
Phillips  Brooks,  CJoodwin,  Weiss,   Foss,   Lecky. 

i'\)r  j)()wer  of  el()(|U('nt  statement :  Bossuet,  Rousseau, 
Buckminslcr,  I  Icnry  Rogers,  Theodore  Parker.  King.  Bayne, 
Mozoomdar,  Washburn,  Simpson,  Chadwick,  bairbairn, 
F'arrar. 

I'or  incisi\('iu-ss  aiul  terseness  of  exj^ressicMi :  Plumptre, 
11.  r..Smit!i,  Vincent,  Joseph  Parker,  Lyman  Abbott,  Board- 
man,  'iownsend. 


PREFACE.  9 

For  splendid  imagery  and  rhetorical  beauty :  Richter, 
Everett,  Winthrop,   Reid,   Conder,  Storrs,   Martineau. 

For  clearness,  fairness,  and  force :  Neander,  Norton, 
Burnap,  Robertson,  Bougaud,  Tyler,  Seeley,  Roussel,  Mathe- 
son,   Monger,  J.   B.  Walker,   Chaffin,   Lesley. 

These  classifications,  embracing  but  a  little  more  than 
one-third  of  the  writers,  are  only  given  as  tentative  and 
illustrative  examples  of  special  excellence,  and  to  indicate 
the  scope  and  attractiveness  of  the  work  as  a  whole. 

My  object  being  to  win  and  increase  men's  love,  honor, 
and  reverence  for  the  great  Teacher,  and  to  show  the  eviden- 
tial value  of  his  character,  I  have  carefully  avoided  every 
thing  that,  in  my  judgment,  would  divert  attention  from  him, 
or  lessen  the  force  and  effectiveness  of  my  main  theme.  To 
this  end,  the  work  has  been  arranged  with  great  plainness 
and  simplicity.  I  give  merely  the  name  of  the  writer,  with 
no  indication  of  his  school  or  rank ;  relying  entirely  on  the 
intrinsic  merit  of  what  he  has  to  say,  to  recommend  it  to 
the  attention  and  appreciation  of  the  reader.  I  then  give  the 
title  of  the  book  or  periodical  quoted  from,  the  place  and 
date  of  its  publication,  and  the  volume  and  pages  necessary 
to  assist  the  reader  who  may  care  to  verify  any  quotation 
made.  A  carefully  prepared  topical  index  greatly  enhances 
the  value  of  the  work  as  a  book  of  reference.  Writers, 
public  speakers,  and  students  will  be  sure  to  appreciate  this 
arrangement. 

I  have  indulged  the  hope  that  these  testimonies,  gathered 
from  so  many  sources,  and  representing  the  learning  and 
devotion  of  nearly  every  denomination  and  country  in  Chris- 
tendom, might,  in  some  degree,  tend  to  increase  a  true 
catholicity  of  spirit,  and  thus  promote  Christian  unity  in  the 
world.  It  seems  eood,  as  in  this  collection,  to  see  Roman 
Catholics  and  Protestants  of  many  names,  unconsciously 
vying  with  one  another  in  weaving  garlands  of  praise  for  the 
Redeemer's  brow.  It  witnesses  to  the  grateful  fact  that  there 
is  something  deeper  and  more  vital  in  human  nature  and 
human  worship,  than  is  expressed  in  the  speculative  questions 
that  divide  men  into  sects  and  schools  of  belief. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  imitation  of  Christ  is  the  only 
practical  Christianity,  and  that  all  who  are  sincerely  seeking 
to  be  guided  by  his  Spirit,  and  to  do  their  work  in  life  so 
as  to  meet  his  approval,  are  Christians.  "  If  we  walk  in  the 
light,  as  he  is  in  the  light,  w^e  have  fellowship  with  one 
another."     Let  this  be  the  basis  of  union.     Such  recognition, 


lO  PREFACE. 

honestly  and  openly  expressed,  and  practically  and  consist- 
ently carried  out  everywhere  by  the  professed  disciples  of 
Jesus,  would  lead  to,  if  it  did  not  constitute,  the  only  Christian 
unity  possible  or  desirable. 

The  ethical  spirit  of  the  nineteenth  century  has  caused  the 
character  of  Christ  to  be  recognized  in  a  greater  degree  than 
in  any  preceding  age,  as  the  most  important  and  influential 
factor  in  the  growth  and  permanence  of  historical  Christianity. 
It  is  true  that  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  represent  the 
character  of  Christ  as  perfect,  and  therefore  as  including  all 
possible  beauties  and  excellences:  yet  it  is  also  true  that  it  has 
been  reserved  for  the  microscopic  criticism  and  keen  psycho- 
logical analysis  of  our  time,  urged  on  by  the  ethical  spirit  of 
the  age,  to  bring  to  light  and  to  emphasize  the  value  of  traits 
and  combinations  of  qualities  in  his  life  and  character,  un- 
noticed or  unemphasized  in  any  preceding  age.  Elaborate 
character-studies  were  almost  unknown  in  the  early  centuries, 
and  during  the  Middle  Ao^e  the  conditions  \vere  unfavorable 
to  the  growth  of  ethical  science.  In  the  present  century  there 
has  been  great  progress  in  the  science  of  morals,  and  in 
the  related  studies  of  psychology  and  mental  physiology. 
Among  the  practical  results  of  this  progress  may  be  noticed 
the  amelioration  of  the  penal  laws  of  Europe  and  America, 
the  greater  humanity  shown  in  the  treatment  of  prisoners,  the 
rapid  increase  in  the  number  of  charitable  institutions  and 
peace  societies,  and  by  the  advance  of  humanization  generally. 

The  ethical  spirit  of  our  age  is  also  shown  in  its  best 
poetry  and  fiction,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  poems  of  Tennyson 
and  Browning,  Lowell  and  Whittier;  and  in  the  novels  of 
Hawthorne  and  Meredith,  Charlotte  Bronte,  and  George  Eliot. 

The  life  of  Jesus  Christ  has  furnished  this  character-study- 
ing, anahsis-loving,  ethics-regarding  age,  with  an  inexhaustible 
subject  of  study  and  contemplation.  No  other  character  has 
ever  been  subjected  to  such  keen  and  long-continued  scrutiny 
and  analysis,  or  to  such  severe  and  critical  tests  ;  yet  every 
atlvance  in  the  ethical  standards  of  the  age  has  only  served 
to  bring  into  clearer  relief  and  more  resplendent  beauty  the 
moral  charactc.-r  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Th(^  twentieth  and 
each  succeeding  century,  with  their  undoubted  advance  in 
ethical  science  and  rigid  tests  of  character,  in  knowledge  and 
in  s|)iritual  insight,  will  doubtless  discover  "  treasures  of  wis- 
dom "  in  Ciirist  that  are  now  hidden  from  us;  for  is  it  not 
written  tliat  ( iod  "in  the  ages  to  coiii(>  will  show  the  exceeding 
riches  of  his  grace   in  kindness  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus  "  ? 


PREFACE.  II 

It  is  a  priceless  consolation  to  the  Christian  believer,  to  feel 
that  however  great  may  be  the  advance  of  moral  civilization 
in  the  centuries  to  cgme,  however  wonderful  the  progress  in 
learning,  science,  art,  ethics,  and  theology,  however  remarka- 
ble the  development  of  high  character  and  goodness  among 
men,  "  the  light  of  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the 
face  of  Jesus  Christ "  will  never  be  eclipsed,  or  become  less 
bright  than  now.  He  has  every  reason  to  believe  that  at 
each  stage  of  progress  in  public  and  private  morals,  and  in 
the  religious  life  of  men,  his  Master  will  be  more  and  more 
widely  honored  and  loved.  He  to  whom  God  has  given  his 
Spirit  without  measure,  "  in  whom  are  all  the  treasures  of 
wisdom  and  knowledge  hidden  ;  "  to  whom  has  been  given 
"  a  name  which  is  above  ever)-  name,"  that  in  every  thing  great 
and  glorious,  he  might  have  the  "pre-eminence,"  —  will  never 
be  outgrown,  will  never  become  a  spent  force  in  the  world. 

In  the  grandeur  and  scope  of  his  mission,  Jesus  infinitely 
surpasses  all  other  religious  teachers  that  the  world  has  ever 
known.  It  is  precisely  in  this  respect,  that  all  comparisons 
between  him  and  other  religious  reformers  and  teachers  of 
morals  are  w^eak,  futile,  almost  intolerable. 

There  is  great  pith  and  point  in  the  incident  related  by  Mr. 
Picton,  in  his  "  Mystery  of  Matter."  "  A  distinguished  man 
once  ventured  the  assertion  that  Marcus  Antoninus  was  a 
nobler  ideal  of  human  character  than  was  the  object  of  human 
reverence.  To  which  a  professed  Positivist  present  replied, 
'  he  never  heard  that  Marcus  Antoninus  ever  conceived  of 
saving  a  world  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself.'  "  But  this  just 
distinction,  instead  of  beinor  confined  to  an  individual,  has  a 
universal  application.  Neither  Socrates,  nor  Gautama,  nor 
Confucius,  nor  Mohammed,  nor  any  other  teacher  of  religion, 
reformer,  or  leader  of  men,  ever  conceived  the  idea  of  saving 
a  world  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  Here,  surely,  Christ 
stands  alone. 

Comparisons  between  the  Founder  of  Christianity  and  the 
founders  of  other  religions  are  inevitable,  and  may  be  proper 
and  helpful  if  they  are  fahdy  made,  and  on  lines  where  com- 
parisons are  allowable  ;  but  Jesus  of  Nazareth  needs  no  foil 
of  human  imperfection,  to  show  off  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  his  peerless  life,  or  to  heighten  the  sublimity  of  his  unique, 
and  therefore  incomparable,  mission. 

The  intellectual  supremacy,  moral  perfection,  and  unpar- 
alleled spiritual  insight  of  Jesus  Christ,  guarantee  the  absolute 
truthfulness    of    his    teaching.     Certainly  no   other  religious 


12  PREFACE. 

teacher  ever  claimed  to  have,  and  none  ever  gave  evidence  of 
having,  such  constant  and  close  communion  with  the  Eternal 
Spirit ;  no  other  great  teacher  ever  clajmed  for  himself  that 
he  was  sinless,  or  challenged  with  calmest  confidence  the 
keenest  scrutiny  and  the  severest  tests  of  friends  and  foes. 

There  are,  indeed,  but  two  alternatives :  unless  Jesus  was 
all  that  he  claimed  to  be,  he  was  himself  deceived,  or  he  was  a 
wilful  deceiver  of  others.  But  his  unbroken  self-conscious- 
ness, incomparably  the  most  perfect  ever  known,  forbids  the 
acceptance  of  the  possibility  that  he  was  self-deceived  ;  while 
his  divinely  beautiful  life,  his  spirit  of  universal  love,  his  utter 
sincerity,  and  his  self-sacrifice  for  others,  render  absolutely 
incredible  and  intolerable  the  other  alternative.  In  other 
words,  the  flawless  character  of  Jesus  Christ  is  the  one 
impregnable  citadel  of  the  Christian  faith  ;  at  once  the  most 
delightful,  the  most  persuasive,  and  the  most  convincing  of 
the  Christian  evidences. 

But  Christ  is  unspeakably  more  than  what  men  mean 
when  they  say  he  is  a  perfect  character.  He  is  a  perfect 
character ;  but  he  is  also  a  life-giving  Spirit,  an  inspiring 
presence,  a  guiding,  protecting  power.  He  who  is  the  way, 
the  truth,  the  life,  said  to  his  disciples,  "  Lo,  I  am  with  )ou 
alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  His  divine  mission 
is  authenticated,  not  only  by  his  unspeakably  precious  revela- 
tion of  God  and  man,  not  only  by  the  holy  Gospel  he  pro- 
claimed, and  the  holy  life  he  lived  in  Palestine,  but  also  by 
the  glorious  witness  and  sanctifying  presence  of  his  Spirit 
through  nearly  nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  history. 

The  sincere  and  just  praises  of  One  whom  millions  love 
better  than  life,  must  be  to  them  sweeter  than  music  ;  and  I 
anticipate  and  share  the  joy  that  any  of  these  may  feci  as  they 
read  these  orlowino-  tributes  which  the  love  and  devotion  of 
many  centuries  and  countries  have  laid  at  the  Redeemer's 
feet. 

My  thanks  arc  due,  and  are  hereby  cordialh'  given,  to  the 
authors  and  jniblishers  of  recent  books  and  periotlicals  quoted 
from,  for  their  kind  permission  to  use  selections;  to  the  othcers 
of  the  various  puljlic  libraries  in  which  I  ha\e  studied,  lor 
their  courteous  and  considerate  attentions  ;  and  to  all  others 
who  have  mven  me  eficctive  aid  and  encoura<j"ement  in  the 
preparation  of  this  Christian  anthology. 

J.  H.  W. 

Boston,  Oct.  i,  iSSS. 


TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 
TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH. 


TESTIMONY    OF   JESUS    TO    HIMSELF. 


MATTHEW. 


[Matt.  V.  17;  vii.  21-27;  x.  32,  33,  39;    xi.  28-30;  xii.  6,  8,  30;   xvi.  13-17,  27; 
xxvi.  63,  64;   xxvii.  II  ;   xxviii.  16-20.] 

Think  not  that  I  came  to  destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets  : 
I  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil. 

Not  every  one  who  saith  unto  me,  Lord,  Lord,  shall  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  he  that  doeth  the  will  of 
my  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

Many  will  say  to  me  in  that  day,  Lord,  Lord,  did  we  not 
prophesy  by  thy  name,  and  by  thy  name  cast  out  demons, 
and  by  thy  name  do  many  mighty  works  ?  And  then  will  I 
profess  unto  them,  I  never  knew  you  :  depart  from  me,  ye  that 
work  iniquity. 

Every  one  therefore  who  heareth  these  words  of  mine, 
and  doeth  them,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  wise  man,  who  built 
his  house  upon  the  rock  :  and  the  rain  descended,  and  the 
floods  came,  and  the  winds  blew,  and  beat  upon  that  house ; 
and  it  fell  not :  for  it  was  founded  upon  the  rock.  And  every 
one  who  heareth  these  words  of  mine,  and  doeth  them  not, 
shall  be  likened  unto  a  foolish  man,  who  built  his  house  upon 
the  sand :  and  the  rain  descended,  and  the  floods  came,  and 
the  winds  blew,  and  smote  upon  that  house ;  and  it  fell : 
and  great  was  the  fall  thereof. 

13 


14  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Ever}'  one  therefore  who  shall  confess  me  before  men, 
him  will  I  also  confess  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 
But  whosoever  shall  deny  me  before  men,  him  will  I  also 
deny  before  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

He  that  findeth  his  life  shall  lose  it ;  and  he  that  loseth  his 
life  for  my  sake  shall  find  it. 

Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you,  and  learn  of 
me ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart :  and  ye  shall  find  rest 
unto  your  souls.  For  my  yoke  is  easy,  and  my  burden  is 
light. 

I  say  unto  you  that  one  greater  than  the  temple  is  here. 
.  .   .  For  the  Son  of  man  is  lord  of  the  sabbath. 

He  that  is  not  with  me  is  against  me  ;  and  he  that  gather- 
eth  not  with  me  scattereth. 

Now  when  Jesus  came  into  the  parts  of  Caesarea  Philippi, 
he  asked  his  disciples,  saying,  Who  do  men  say  that  the  Son 
of  man  is  ?  And  they  said.  Some  say  John  the  Baptist ; 
some,  Elijah ;  and  others,  Jeremiah,  or  one  of  the  prophets. 
He  saith  unto  them.  But  who  say  ye  that  I  am  ?  And  Simon 
Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  God.  And  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Blessed 
art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jonah :  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not 
revealed  it  unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven. 

The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father 
with  his  angels  ;  and  then  shall  he  render  unto  every  man 
accordinof  to  his  deeds. 

The  high  priest  said  unto  him,  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living 
God,  that  thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God.  Jesus  saith  unto  him.  Thou  hast  said  :  nevertheless 
I  say  unto  you,  Henceforth  ye  shall  see  the  Son  of  man  sitting 
at  the  right  hand  of  power,  and  coming  on  the  clouds  of 
heaven. 

Now  Jesus  stood  before  the  governor  :  and  the  governor 
asked  him,  saying,  Art  thou  the  King  of  the  Jews?  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him.  Thou  sayest. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 5 

The  eleven  disciples  went  into  Galilee,  unto  the  mountain 
which  Jesus  had  appointed  them.  And  when  they  saw  him, 
they  worshipped  him :  but  some  doubted.  And  Jesus  came 
to  them  and  spake  unto  them,  saying-,  All  authority  hath  been 
given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and 
make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them  into  the  name 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  teaching 
them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you : 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world. 


MARK. 

[Mark  ii.  27,  28 ;  x.  45 ;  xiv.  61,  62.] 

And  he  said  unto  them,  The  sabbath  was  made  for  man, 
and  not  man  for  the  sabbath  :  so  that  the  Son  of  man  is  lord 
even  of  the  sabbath. 

The  Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister,  and  to  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many. 

The  high  priest  asked  him,  and  saith  unto  him,  Art  thou 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Blessed  ?     And  Jesus  said,  I  am. 


LUKE. 

[Luke  V.  32;  xix.  10;  xxii.  19,  20.] 

I  AM  not  com^  to  call  the  righteous  but  sinners  to  repent- 
ance. 

The  Son  of  man  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost. 

And  he  took  bread,  and  when  he  had  given  thanks,  he 
brake  it,  and  gave  to  them,  saying.  This  is  my  body  which  is 
given  for  you  :  this  do  in  remembrance  of  me.  And  the  cup 
in  like  manner  after  supper,  saying,  This  cup  is  the  new 
covenant  in  my  blood,  even  that  which  is  poured  out  for  you. 


1 6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


JOHN. 

[John  ii.  18-22;  iv.  25,  26,  31,  34;  v.  19-22,  23,  25-27,  36,  37,  39;  vi.  38,  51,  63; 
viii.  12-14,  29,42,46;  X.  9-11,  16-18,  27,  28;  xi.  21-25;  xii.  32,  45,  46;  xiv. 
2-1 1,  30;  XV.  5,  II,  26;  xvi.  14,  28;  xviii.  37.] 

The  Jews  therefore  answered  and  said  unto  him,  What 
sign  shewest  thou  unto  us,  seeing  that  thou  doest  these 
things  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them,  Destroy  this 
temple,  and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up.  The  Jews  there- 
fore said,  Forty  and  six  years  was  this  temple  in  building,  and 
wilt  thou  raise  it  up  in  three  days  ?  But  he  spake  of  the 
temple  of  his  body. 

When  therefore  he  was  raised  from  the  dead,  his  disciples 
remembered  that  he  spake  this  ;  and  they  believed  the  Scrip- 
ture, and  the  word  which  Jesus  had  said. 

The  woman  saith  unto  him,  I  know  that  Messiah  cometh 
(which  is  called  Christ)  :  when  he  is  come,  he  will  declare 
unto  us  all  things.  Jesus  saith  unto  her,  I  that  speak  unto 
thee  am  he. 

In  the  mean  while  the  disciples  prayed  him,  saying.  Rabbi, 
eat.  But  he  said  unto  them,  I  have  meat  to  eat  that  ye  know 
not.  The  disciples  therefore  said  one  to  another.  Hath  any 
man  brought  him  aught  to  eat?  Jesus  saith  unto  them.  My 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  him  that  sent  me,  and  to  accomplish 
his  work. 

Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  you.  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of 
himself,  but  what  he  seeth  the  Father  doing:  for  what  things 
soever  he  doeth,  these  the  Son  also  doeth  in  like  manner. 
For  the  Father  loveth  the  Son,  and  sheweth  him  all  things 
that  himself  doeth  :  and  greater  works  than  these  will  he  shew 
him,  that  ye  may  marvel.  For  as  the  Father  raiseth  the  dead 
and  quickeneth  them,  even  so  the  Son  also  quickeneth  whom 
he  will.  For  neither  doth  the  Father  judge  any  man,  but  he 
hath  given  all  judgment  unto  the  Son  ;  that  all  may  honor  the 
Son,  even  as  they  honor  the  I\ather.  Me  that  honoreth  not 
the    Son    honoreth    not    the    Father   who   sent   him.     Verily, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  17 

verily  I  say  unto  you.  He  that  heareth  my  word,  and  believeth 
him  that  sent  me,  hath  eternal  lite,  and  cometh  not  into  judg- 
ment, but  hath  passed  out  of  death  into  life.  Verily,  verily, 
I  say  unto  you,  The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is,  when  the  dead 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  they  that  hear 
shall  live.  For  as  the  Father  hath  life  in  himself,  even  so 
gave  he  to  the  Son  also  to  have  life  in  himself:  and  he  gave 
him  authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  he  is  the  Son  of 
man.   .   .   . 

The  witness  which  I  have  is  greater  than  that  of  John  :  for 
the  works  which  the  Father  hath  given  me  to  accomplish,  the 
very  works  that  I  do,  bear  witness  of  me.  that  the  Father  hath 
sent  me.  And  the  Father  who  sent  me,  he  hath  borne 
witness  of  me. 

I  am  come  down  from  heaven,  not  to  do  mine  own  will,  but 
the  will  of  him  that  sent  me.  ...  I  am  the  living  bread  which 
came  down  out  of  heaven  :  if  any  man  eat  of  this  bread,  he 
shall  live  forever :  yea  and  the  bread  which  I  will  give  is  my 
flesh,  for  the  life  of  the  world.  ...  It  is  the  spirit  that  quick- 
eneth ;  the  flesh  profiteth  nothing:  the  words  that  I  have 
spoken  unto  you  are  spirit,  and  are  life, 

Jesus  spake  unto  them,  saying,  I  am  the  light  of  the  world  : 
he  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  the  darkness,  but  shall 
have  the  light  of  life.  The  Pharisees  therefore  said  unto  him. 
Thou  bearest  witness  of  thyself:  th)-  witness  is  not  true. 
Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  them.  Even  if  I  bear  witness  of 
myself,  my  witness  is  true  ;  for  I  know  whence  I  came,  and 
whither  I  go.  .  .  .  He  that  sent  me  is  with  me  ;  he  hath  not 
left  me  alone  ;  for  I  do  always  the  things  that  are  pleasing  to 
him.  ...  I  came  forth  and  am  come  from  God  ;  for  neither 
have  I  come  of  myself,  but  he  sent  me.  .  .  .  Because  I  say 
the  truth,  ye  believe  me  not.  Which  of  you  convicteth  me  of 
sin  ?     If  I  say  truth,  \vh)"  do  ye  not  believe  me  ? 

I  am  the  door:  by  me  if  any  man  enter  in,  he  shall  be 
saved,  and  shall  go  in  and  go  out,  and  shall  find  pasture.  The 
thief  cometh  not,  but  that  he  may  steal,  and  kill,  and  destroy: 


15  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

I  came  that  they  may  have  Hfe,  and  may  have  it  abundantly. 
I  am  the  good  shepherd  :  the  good  shepherd  layeth  down  his 
Hfe  for  the  sheep.  .  .  .  Other  sheep  I  have,  which  are  not  of 
this  fold  :  them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall  hear  my 
voice ;  and  they  shall  become  one  flock,  one  shepherd. 
Therefore  doth  the  Father  love  me,  because  I  lay  down  my 
life,  that  I  may  take  it  again.  No  one  taketh  it  away  from 
me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  myself.  I  have  power  to  lay  it  down, 
and  I  have  power  to  take  it  again.  .  .  .  My  sheep  hear  my 
voice,  and  I  know  them,  and  they  follow  me  :  and  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life  ;  and  they  shall  never  perish,  and  no  one 
shall  snatch  them  out  of  my  hand. 

Martha  said  unto  Jesus,  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my 
brother  had  not  died.  And  even  now  I  know  that,  whatso- 
ever thou  shalt  ask  of  God,  God  will  give  thee.  Jesus  saith 
unto  her,  Thy  brother  shall  rise  again.  Martha  saith  unto 
him,  I  know  that  he  shall  rise  aofain  in  the  resurrection  at  the 
last  day.  Jesus  said  unto  her,  I  am  the  resurrection,  and  the 
life :  he  that  believeth  on  me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall  he  live  : 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die. 

I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth,  will  draw  all  men  unto 
myself.  .  .  .  He  that  beholdeth  me  beholdeth  him  that  sent 
me.  I  am  come  a  light  into  the  world,  that  whosoever 
believeth  on  me  may  not  abide  in  the  darkness. 

In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions  ;  if  it  were  not 
so,  I  would  have  told  you  ;  for  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for 
you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a  place  for  you,  I  come  again, 
and  will  receive  you  unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  there  ye 
may  be  also.  And  whither  I  go,  ye  know  the  way.  Thomas 
saith  unto  him,  Lord,  we  know  not  whither  thou  goest ;  how 
know  we  the  way?  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  am  the  wa)-,  aiul 
the  truth,  and  the  life  :  no  one  cometh  unto  the  hather,  but 
by  me.  If  ye  had  known  me  ye  woukl  have  known  my 
Father  also  :  from  henceforth  ye  know  him,  and  have  seen 
him.  Philip  saith  unto  him,  Lord,  show  us  the  Father,  and 
it  sufficeth  us. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  19 

Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Have  I  been  so  long  time  with  you, 
and  dost  thou  not  i<now  me,  Philip  ?  He  that  hath  seen  me 
hath  seen  the  Father;  how  sayest  thou.  Show  us  the  Father? 
Believest  thou  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in 
me  ?  The  words  that  I  say  unto  you  I  speak  not  from  myself: 
but  the  Father  abiding  in  me  doeth  his  works.  Believe  me 
that  I  am  in  the  Feather,  and  the  Father  in  me  :  or  else  believe 
me  for  the  very  work's  sake.  .  .  .  The  prince  of  the  world 
cometh  :  and  he  hath  nothino-  in  me. 

I  am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches  :  He  that  abideth  in 
me,  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit :  for  apart  from 
me  ye  can  do  nothing.  .  .  .  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto 
you,  that  my  joy  may  be  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  may  be 
fulfilled.  .  .  .  When  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I  will 
send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the  Spirit  of  truth, 
which  proceedeth  from  the  Father,  he  shall  bear  witness  of 
me.  .  .  .  He  shall  glorify  me  :  for  he  shall  take  of  mine,  and 
shall  declare  it  unto  you.  ...  I  came  out  from  the  Father, 
and  am  come  into  the  world  ;  again,  I  leave  the  world,  and 
go  unto  the  Father. 

Pilate  therefore  said  unto  him.  Art  thou  a  kino-  then  ? 
Jesus  answered.  Thou  sayest  that  I  am  a  king.  To  this  end 
have  I  been  born,  and  to  this  end  am  I  come  into  the  world, 
that  I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that  is 
of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice. 


20  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 


TESTIIVIONY    OF  THE   WRITERS,   AND   OTHERS,   OF 
THE    NEW  TESTAMENT. 


MATTHEW. 

[Matt.  vii.  28.  29:  ix.  35,  36:  xi.  2-7;  xiii.  54-57.] 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  Jesus  ended  these  words 
[the  Sermon  on  the  Mount],  the  mukitudes  were  astonished 
at  his  teaching:  for  he  taught  them  as  one  having  authorit)", 
and  not  as  their  scribes. 

Jesus  went  about  all  the  cities  and  the  villages,  teaching 
in  their  synagogues,  and  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  king- 
dom, and  healing  all  manner  of  disease,  and  all  manner  of 
sickness.  But  when  he  saw  the  multitudes,  he  was  moved 
with  compassion  for  them,  because  they  were  distressed  and 
scattered,  as  sheep  not  having  a  shepherd. 

Now  when  John  heard  in  the  prison  the  works  of  the 
Christ,  he  sent  by  his  disciples,  and  .said  unto  him.  Art  thou 
he  that  cometh,  or  look  we  for  another?  And  Jesus  answered 
and  said  unto  them,  Go  your  wa)'  and  tell  John  the  things 
which  ye  do  hear  and  see :  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  and 
the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  antl  the  deaf  hear, 
and  the  dead  arc;  raised  up,  and  the  poor  ha\e  good  tidings 
preached  to  them.  And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  find 
none  occasion  of  stumbling  in  me. 

And  coming  into  his  own  countr\-  he  tauglu  iheni  in  iheir 
synagogue,  insomuch  that  they  were  astonislied,  and  said. 
Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom,  and  tliese  mighty  works? 
Is  not  this  the  car|)enter's  son  ?  is  not  his  mcnher  called 
Mary?  and  his  brc^thren,  James,  antl  Jo.seph.  and  Simon,  and 
Judas?*  And  his  sisters,  are  they  not  all  with  us?  Whence 
then  hath  this  man   all   these  things? 


ro  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  2  i 

MARK. 

[Mark  i.  i,  9-1 1  ;  x.  13-16.] 

The  beginning  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God.  .  .  .  Jesus  came  from  Nazareth  of  GaHlee,  and  was 
baptized  of  John  in  the  Jordan.  And  straightway  coming 
up  out  of  the  water,  he  saw  the  heavens  rent  asunder,  and 
the  Spirit  as  a  dove  descending  upon  him  :  and  a  voice  came 
out  of  the  heavens.  Thou  art  my  beloved  Son,  in  thee  I  am 
well  pleased. 

And  they  brought  unto  him  little  children,  that  he 
should  touch  them :  and  the  disciples  rebuked  them.  But 
when  Jesus  saw  it,  he  was  moved  with  indignation,  and  said 
unto  them,  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come  unto  me  ;  forbid 
them  not :  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  God.  Verily  I  say 
unto  you.  Whosoever  shall  not  receive  the  kingdom  of  God 
as  a  little  child,  he  shall  in  no  wise  enter  therein.  And  he 
took  them  in  his  arms,  and  blessed  them,  laying  his  hands 
upon  them. 

LUKE. 

[Luke  i.  1-4;  iv.  14-22;  ix.  51-56.] 

Forasmuch  as  many  have  taken  in  hand  to  draw  up  a 
narrative  concerning  those  matters  which  have  been  fulfilled 
among  us,  even  as  they  delivered  them  unto  us,  which  from 
the  beginning  were  eye-witnesses  and  ministers  of  the  word, 
it  seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  traced  the  course  of  all 
things  accurately  from  the  first,  to  write  unto  thee  in  order, 
most  excellent  Theophilus ;  that  thou  mightest  know  the 
certainty  concerning  the  things  wherein  thou  wast  instructed. 

And  Jesus  returned  in  the  power  of  the  Spirit  into  Galilee  : 
and  a  fame  went  out  concerning  him  through  all  the  region 
round  about.  And  he  taught  in  their  synagogues,  being 
glorified  of  all. 


2  2  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

And  he  came  to  Nazareth,  where  he  had  been  brought 
up  :  and  he  entered,  as  his  custom  was,  into  the  synagogue 
on  the  sabbath  day,  and  stood  up  to  read.  And  there  was 
dehvered  unto  him  the  book  of  the  prophet  Isaiah.  And  he 
opened  the  book,  and  found  the  place  where  it  was  written, 

The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me. 

Because  he  anointed  me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the 
poor : 

He  hath  sent  me  to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives, 

And  recovering  of  sight  to  the  blind. 

To  set  at  liberty  them  that  are  bruised. 

To  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord. 
And  he  closed  the  book  and  gave  it  back  to  the  attendant, 
and  sat  down :  and  the  eyes  of  all  in  the  synagogue  were 
fastened  on  him.  And  he  began  to  say  unto  them,  To-day 
hath  this  scripture  been  fulfilled  in  your  ears.  And  all  bare 
him  witness,  and  wondered  at  the  words  of  grace  which 
proceeded   out  of    his   mouth. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  when  the  days  were  well-nigh  come 
that  he  should  be  received  up,  he  steadfastly  set  his  face  to 
go  to  Jerusalem,  and  sent  messengers  before  his  face  :  and 
they  went,  and  entered  into  a  village  of  the  Saniaritans,  to 
make  ready  for  him.  And  they  did  not  receive  him.  because 
his  face  was  as  though  he  were  going  to  Jerusalem.  And 
when  his  disciples  James  and  John  saw  this,  they  said,  Lord, 
wilt  thou  that  we  bid  fire  to  come  down  from  heaven,  and 
consume  them  ?  But  he  turned,  and  rebuked  them.  And 
they  went  to  another  village. 


JOHN. 

[John  i.  1-4,  14-17.     I  John  i.  1-5.] 

In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with 
God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  ])egin- 
ning  with  God.     All  things  were  made  b)-  hini  ;   and  without 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH. 


-0 


him  was  not  any  thing  made  that  hath  been  made.  In  hini 
was  hie  ;  and  the  hfe  was  the  hght  of  men.  .  .  .  And  the 
Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  us  (and  we  beheld  his 
glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the  Father),  full  of 
grace  and  truth.  John  beareth  witness  of  him,  and  crieth, 
saying,  This  was  he  of  whom  I  said,  He  that  cometh  after  me 
is  become  before  me  :  for  he  was  before  me.  For  of  his  ful- 
ness we  all  received,  and  grace  for  grace.  For  the  law  was 
given  by  Moses  ;  grace  and  truth  came  by  Jesus  Christ. 

That  which  was  from  the  beofinninor  that  which  we  have 
heard,  that  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes,  that  which  we 
beheld,  and  our  hands  handled,  concerning  the  Word  of  life 
(and  the  life  was  manifested,  and  we  have  seen,  and  bear  wit- 
ness, and  declare  unto  you  the  life,  the  eternal  life,  which  was 
with  the  Father,  and  was  manifested  unto  us)  ;  that  which  we 
have  seen  and  heard  declare  we  unto  you  also,  that  ye  also 
may  have  fellowship  with  us  :  yea,  and  our  fellowship  is  with 
the  Father,  and  with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ :  and  these  things 
we  write,  that  our  joy  may  be  fulfilled. 


PETER. 

[John  vi.  67-70.     Acts  iv.  8-13  ;  x.  36-44.     i  Pet.  ii.  21-24;  "i-  i8-] 

Jesus  said  therefore  unto  the  twelve,  Would  ye  also  go 
away  ?  Simon  Peter  answered  him.  Lord,  to  whom  shall  we 
go  ?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life.  And  we  have 
believed   and  know  that  thou  art  the  Holy  One  of  God. 

Then  Peter,  filled  with  the  Holy  Spirit,  said  unto  them,  Ye 
rulers  of  the  people,  and  elders,  if  we  this  day  are  examined 
concerning  a  good  deed  done  to  an  impotent  man,  by  what 
means  this  man  is  made  whole  ;  be  it  known  unto  you  all, 
and  to  all  the  people  of  Israel,  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  of  Nazareth,  whom  ye  crucified,  whom  God  raised  from 
the  dead,  even  in  him  doth  this  man  stand  here  before  you 
whole.     He  is  the  stone  which  was  set  at  nought  of  you  the 


24  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

builders,  which  was  made  the  head  of  the  corner.  And  in 
none  other  is  there  salvation  :  tor  neither  is  there  any  other 
name  under  heaven,  that  is  given  among  men,  wherein  we 
must  be  saved. 

The  word  which  he  sent  unto  the  children  of  Israel, 
preaching  good  tidings  of  peace  by  Jesus  Christ  (he  is  Lord 
of  all)  —  that  saying  ye  yourselves  know,  which  was  published 
throughout  all  Judea,  beginning  from  Galilee,  after  the  bap- 
tism which  John  preached  ;  even  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  how  that 
God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and  with  power:  who 
went  about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed 
of  the  devil ;  for  God  was  with  him.  And  we  are  witnesses  of 
all  things  which  he  did  both  in  the  country  of  the  Jews,  and 
in  Jerusalem  ;  whom  also  they  slew,  hanging  him  on  a  tree. 
Him  God  raised  up  the  third  clay,  and  gave  him  to  be  made 
manifest,  not  to  all  the  people,  but  unto  witnesses  that  were 
chosen  before  of  God,  even  to  us,  who  did  eat  and  drink  with 
him  after  he  rose  from  the  dead.  And  he  charged  us  to 
preach  unto  the  people,  and  to  testify  that  this  is  he  which 
is  ordained  of  God  to  be  the  Judge  of  quick  and  dead.  To 
him  bear  all  the  prophets  witness,  that  through  his  name 
every  one  that  believeth  on  him  shall  receive  remission  of 
sins. 

Christ  also  suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that 
ye  should  follow  his  steps:  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was  guile 
found  in  his  mouth  :  who,  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled  not 
again;  when  he  suffered,  threatened  not;  but  committed  him- 
self to  him  that  judgeth  righteously  :  .  .  .  Christ  also  suffennl 
for  sins  once,  the  righteous  for  the  unrighteous,  that  he  might 
bring  us  to  God. 


2^0  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  25 

PAUL. 

[Acts  XX.  35.  Rom.  v.  6-8;  viii.  38,  39.  i  Cor.  iii.  11.  2  Cor.  v.  14-16;  viii.  9. 
Gal.  V.  I,  6.  Eph.  i.  3;  ii.  4-8;  iii.  14-20;  iv.  11-14.  Phil.  ii.  9-12 ;  iii.  8. 
Col.  i.  18-20:  ill.  8-10.      I  Tim.  i.  15,  16.     2  Tim.  i.  10.] 

In  all  things  I  gave  you  an  e.xample,  how  that  so  laboring 
ye  ought  to  help  the  weak,  and  to  remember  the  words  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  how  he  himself  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive. 

While  we  were  yet  weak,  in  due  sea.son  Christ  died  for 
the  ungodly.  For  scarcely  for  a  righteous  man  will  one  die  : 
for  peradventure'for  the  good  man  some  would  even  dare  to 
die.  But  God  commendeth  his  own  love  toward  us,  in  that, 
while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us. 

I  am  persuaded,  that  neither  death,  nor  life,  nor  angels, 
nor  principalities,  nor  things  present,  nor  things  to  come,  nor 
powers,  nor  height,  nor  depth,  nor  any  other  creature,  shall 
be  able  to  separate  us  from  the  love  of  God,  which  is  in 
Christ  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that  which  is  laid, 
which  is  Jesus  Christ. 

The  love  of  Christ  constraineth  us  ;  because  we  thus  judge, 
that  one  died  for  all,  that  they  which  live  should  no  longer 
live  unto  themselves,  but  unto  him  who  for  their  sakes  died 
and  rose  again. 

Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that,  though 
he  was  rich,  yet  for  your  sakes  he  became  poor,  that  ye 
through  his  poverty  might  become  rich. 

With  freedom  did  Christ  set  us  free  :  stand  fast  therefore, 
and  be  not  entangled  again  in  a  yoke  of  bondage.  .  .  .  For 
in  Christ  Jesus  neither  circumcision  availeth  any  thing,  nor 
uncircumcision  ;  but  faith  working  through  love. 

Blessed  be  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
who  hath  blessed  us  with  every  spiritual  blessing  in  the 
heavenly  places  in  Christ. 

God  being  rich  in   mercy,  for  his  great  love  wherewith  he 


26  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

loved  us,  even  when  we  were  dead  through  our  trespasses, 
quickened  us  together  with  Christ  (by  grace  have  ye  been 
saved),  and  raised  us  up  with  him,  and  made  us  to  sit  with 
him  in  the  heavenly  places,  in  Christ  Jesus  :  that  in  the  ages 
to  come  he  might  shew  the  exceeding  riches  of  his  grace  in 
kindness  toward  us  in  Christ  Jesus. 

For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees  unto  the  Father,  from  whom 
every  family  in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named,  that  he  would 
grant  you,  according  to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  that  ye  may  be 
strengthened  with  power  through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man  ; 
that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith  ;  to  the  end 
that  ye,  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may  be  strong  to 
apprehend  with  all  the  saints  what  is  the  breadth  and  length 
and  height  and  depth,  and  to  know  the  love  of  Christ  which 
passeth  knowledge,  that  ye  may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness 
of  God. 

He  gave  some  to  be  apostles  ;  and  some,  prophets  ;  and 
some,  evangelists  ;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers  ;  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  unto  the  work  of  ministering,  unto 
the  building  up  of  the  body  of  Christ :  till  we  all  attain 
unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of 
the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. 

God  highly  exalted  him,  and  gave  unto  him  the  name 
which  is  above  every  name  ;  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  c\ery 
knee  should  bow,  of  thincfs  in  heaven  and  thinos  on  earth  awA 
things  under  the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess 
that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father. 

I  count  all  things  to  be  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the 
knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord  :  for  whoni  I  suffered 
the  loss  of  all  things,  and  do  count  them  but  refuse,  that  I 
may  gain  Christ. 

He  is  the  head  of  the  body,  the  church  :  who  is  the  begin- 
ning, the  firstborn  from  the  dead  ;  that  in  all  things  he  might 
have  the  pre-eminence.  For  it  was  the  good  j^leasure  of  the 
F'athcM-  that  in  him  slioiiKl  all  the  fulness  dwell. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  27 

Take  heed  lest  there  shall  be  any  one  that  maketh  spoil 
of  you  through  his  philosophy  and  vain  deceit,  after  the  tradi- 
tion of  men,  after  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  and  not  after 
Christ :  for  in  him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead 
bodily,  and  in  him  ye  are  made  full,  who  is  the  head  of  all 
principality  and  power. 

Faithful  is  the  saying,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that 
Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save  sinners  ;  of  whom  I 
am  chief ;  howbeit  for  this  cause  I  obtained  mercy,  that  in  me 
as  chief  micrht  lesus  Christ  shew  forth  all  his  lonpf-sufferino- 
for  an  ensample  of  them  which  should  hereafter  believe  on 
him  unto  eternal  life. 

Our  Saviour  Christ  Jesus  hath  abolished  death,  and  brought 
life  and  incorruption  to  light  through  the  gospel. 


THE    WRITER    OF    THE     BOOK    OF    HEBREWS. 

[Heb.  i.  1-5:  ii.9-12;   17,18:  iv.  15:  vii.  26-28;  xiii.  8.] 

God,  having  of  old  time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the 
prophets  by  divers  portions  and  in  divers  manners,  hath  at 
the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son,  whom  he 
appointed  heir  of  all  things,  through  whom  also  he  made  the 
worlds  ;  who  being  the  effulgence  of  his  glory,  and  the  very 
image  ot  his  substance,  and  upholding  all  things  by  the  word 
of  his  power,  when  he  had  made  purification  of  sins,  sat  down 
on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high  ;  having  become  by 
so  much  better  than  the  angels,  as  he  hath  inherited  a  more 
excellent  name  than  they. 

We  behold  him  who  hath  been  made  a  little  lower  than 
the  angels,  even  Jesus,  because  of  the  suffering  of  death 
crowned  with  glory  and  honor,  that  by  the  grace  of  God  he 
should  taste  death  for  every  man.  For  it  became  him,  for 
whom  are  all  thino-s,  and  throuo-h  w^hom  are  all  thino-s,  in 
bringing  many  sons  unto  glory,  to  make  the  author  of  their 
salvation  perfect  through  sufferings.     For  both  he  that  sancti- 


28  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

fieth  and  they  that  are  sanctified  are  all  of  one  :  for  which 
cause  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren. 

.  .  .  Wherefore  it  behoved  him  in  all  things  to  be  made 
like  unto  his  brethren,  that  he  might  be  a  merciful  and  faithful 
high  priest  in  things  pertaining  to  God,  to  make  propitiation 
for  the  sins  of  the  people.  For  in  that  he  himself  hath 
suftered  being  tempted,  he  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are 
tempted. 

For  we  have  not  a  high  priest  that  cannot  be  touched  with 
the  feeling  of  our  infirmities  ;  but  one  that  hath  been  in  all 
points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin. 

Such  a  high  priest  became  us.  holy,  guileless,  undefiled, 
separated  from  sinners,  and  made  higher  than  the  heavens  ; 
who  needeth  not  daily,  like  those  high  priests,  to  offer  up 
sacrifices,  first  for  his  own  sins,  and  then  for  the  sins  of  the 
people  :  for  this  he  did  once  for  all,  when  he  offered  up  him- 
self. For  the  law  appointeth  men  high  priests  having  infirmi- 
ties ;  but  the  word  of  the  oath,  which  was  after  the  law, 
appointeth  a  Son,  perfected  forevermore. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  same  yesterday  and  to-day,  yea  and 
forever. 


JOHN    THE    BAPTIST. 

[John  i.  25-35;   i''-  26-29,  30:   34.  35-1 

And  they  asked  him,  and  said  unto  him,  Wh)-  then  bap- 
tizest  thou,  if  thou  art  not  the  Christ,  neither  Elijah,  neither 
the  prophet  ?  John  answered  them,  saying,  I  baptize  with 
water :  in  the  midst  of  you  standeth  one  whom  ye  know  not, 
even  he  that  cometh  after  me,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoe  1 
am  not  worthy  to  unloose.  These  things  were  done  in 
Bethany  beyond  Jordan,  where  John  was  baptizing. 

On  the  morrow  he  seeth  Jesus  coming  unto  him,  and  saith. 
Behold,  the  Laml)  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the 
world  !  This  is  he  of  whom  I  said.  After  me  cometh  a  man 
who   is  become   before   me :    for  he;   was  Ijefore   me.     And   1 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  29 

knew  him  not ;  but  that  he  should  be  made  manifest  to  Israel, 
for  this  cause  came  I  baptizing  with  water. 

And  John  bare  witness,  saying,  I  have  beheld  the  Spirit 
descending  as  a  dove  out  of  heaven  ;  and  it  abode  upon  him. 
And  I  knew  him  not :  but  he  that  sent  me  to  baptize  with 
water,  he  said  unto  me.  Upon  whomsoever  thou  shalt  see  the 
Spirit  descending,  and  abiding  upon  him,  the  same  is  he  that 
baptizeth  with  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  I  have  seen,  and  have 
borne  witness  that  this  is  the  Son  of  God. 

And  they  came  unto  John,  and  said  to  him.  Rabbi,  he  that 
was  with  thee  beyond  Jordan,  to  whom  thou  hast  borne  wit- 
ness, behold,  the  same  baptizeth,  and  all  men  come  to  him. 
John  answered  and  said,  A  man  can  receive  nothing,  except 
it  have  been  given  him  from  heaven.  Ye  yourselves  bear  me 
witness,  that  I  said,  I  am  not  the  Christ,  but,  that  I  am  sent 
before  him.  .  .  .  He  must  increase,  but  I  must  decrease.  .  .  . 
He  whom  God  hath  sent  speaketh  the  words  of  God  :  for  he 
giveth  not  the  Spirit  by  measure.  The  Father  loveth  the  Son 
and  hath  given  all  things  into  his  hand. 


SIMEON. 

[Luke  ii.  25-33.] 

There  was  a  man  in  Jerusalem,  whose  name  was  Simeon  ; 
and  this  man  was  riofhteous  and  devout,  lookino"  for  the 
consolation  of  Israel :  and  the  Holy  Spirit  was  upon  him. 
And  it  had  been  revealed  unto  him  by  the  Holy  Spirit, 
that  he  should  not  see  death,  before  he  had  seen  the  Lord's 
Christ.  And  he  came  in  the  Spirit  into  the  temple  :  and 
when  the  parents  brought  in  the  child  Jesus,  that  they 
might  do  concerning  him  after  the  custom  of  the  law, 
then  he  received  him  into  his  arms,  and  blessed  God,  and 
said. 

Now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart,  O  Lord, 

According  to  th)-  word  in  peace  ; 


30  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

For  mine  eyes  have  seen  thy  salvation, 

Which  thou  hast  prepared  before  the  face  of  all  peoples ; 

A  light  for  revelation  to  the  Gentiles, 

And  the  glory  of  thy  people  Israel. 


PHILIP    AND    NATHANIEL. 

[John  i.  43-50.] 

On  the  morrow  he  was  minded  to  go  forth  into  Galilee, 
and  he  findeth  Philip  :  and  Jesus  saith  unto  him,  Follow  me. 
Now  Philip  was  from  Bethsaida,  of  the  city  of  Andrew  and 
Peter.  Philip  findeth  Nathanael,  and  saith  unto  him,  We  have 
found  him,  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law,  and  the  prophets,  did 
write,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the  son  of  Joseph.  And  Nathanael 
said  unto  him.  Can  any  good  thing  come  out  ot  Nazareth  ? 
Philip  saith  unto  him.  Come  and  see.  Jesus  saw  Nathanael 
coming  to  him,  and  saith  of  him,  Behold,  an  Israelite  indeed, 
in  whom  is  no  guile !  Nathanael  saith  unto  him,  Whence 
knowest  thou  me  ?  Jesus  answered  and  said  unto  him. 
Before  Philip  called  thee,  when  thou  wast  under  the  fig  tree, 
I  saw  thee.  Nathanael  answered  him.  Rabbi,  thou  art  the 
Son  of  God  ;  thou  art  King  of  Israel. 


THE    SAMARITANS    OF    SYCHAR. 

[Jolm  iv.  39-43-] 

And  from  that  city  many  of  the  Samaritans  believed  on 
him  because  of  the  word  of  the  woman,  who  testified.  He 
told  me  all  thinofs  that  ever  I  did.  So  when  the  Samaritans 
came  unto  him,  they  besought  him  to  abide  with  them  :  and 
he  abode  there  two  days.  And  many  believed  because  of  his 
word  ;  and  they  said  to  the  woman.  Now  we  believe,  not 
because  of  thy  speaking:  for  we  have  heard  for  ourselves, 
and  know  that  this  is  indeed  the  Saviour  ot   the  world. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  3 1 

NICODEMUS. 

[John  iii.  1-3;  vii.  45-52.] 

Now  there  was  a  man  of  the  Pharisees,  named  Nicodemus, 
a  ruler  of  the  Jews  :  the  same  came  unto  him  by  night,  and 
said  to  him,  Rabbi,  we  know  that  thou  art  a  teacher  come 
from  God  :  for  no  man  can  do  these  signs  that  thou  doest, 
except  God  be  with  him.  .   .   . 

The  officers  therefore  came  to  the  chief  priests  and  Phari- 
sees ;  and  they  said  unto  them.  Why  did  ye  not  bring  him  ? 
The  officers  answered.  Never  man  so  spake.  The  Pharisees 
therefore  answered  them,  Are  ye  also  led  astray?  Hath  any 
of  the  rulers  believed  on  him,  or  of  the  Pharisees?  But  this 
multitude  which  knoweth  not  the  law  are  accursed.  Nicode- 
mus saith  unto  them  (he  that  came  to  them  before,  being  one 
of  them).  Doth  our  law  judge  a  man,  except  it  first  hear  from 
himself  and  know  what  he  doeth  ? 


PONTIUS    PILATE. 

[Matt,  xxvii.  24.     Luke  xxiii.  1-5;   13-16.] 

When  Pilate  saw  that  he  prevailed  .nothing,  but  rather 
that  a  tumult  was  arising,  he  took  water,  and  washed  his 
hands  before  the  multitude,  saying,  I  am  innocent  of  the 
blood  of  this  righteous  man  :  see  ye  to  it.   .   .  . 

And  the  whole  company  of  them  rose  up,  and  brought 
him  before  Pilate.  And  they  began  to  accuse  him,  saying, 
We  found  this  man  perverting  our  nation,  and  forbidding  to 
give  tribute  to  Caesar,  and  saying  that  he  himself  is  Christ  a 
king.  And  Pilate  asked  him,  saying,  Art  thou  the  King  of 
the  Jews  ?  And  he  answered  and  said.  Thou  sayest.  And 
Pilate  said  unto  the  chief  priests  and  the  multitudes,  I  find  no 
fault  in  this  man.   .   .   . 

And  Pilate  called  together  the  chief  priests  and  the  rulers 
and  the  people,  and  said  unto  them.  Ye  brought  unto  me  this 


32  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

man.  as  one  that  perverteth  the  people  :  and  behold.  I.  havincr 
examined  him  before  you.  found  no  fault  in  this  man  touch- 
ing those  thing's  whereof  ye  accuse  him  :  no.  nor  yet  Herod  : 
for  he  sent  him  back  to  us. 


THE    WIFE    OF    PONTIUS    PILATE. 

[Matt,  xxvii.  19.] 

While  he  [Pilate]  was  sitting  on  the  judgment-seat,  his 
wife  sent  unto  him,  saying.  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with 
that  righteous  man  :  for  I  have  suffered  many  things  this  day 
in  a  dream  because  of  him. 


JUDAS    ISCARIOT. 

[Matt,  xxvii.  3,  4.] 

Then  Judas,  who  betrayed  him,  when  he  saw  that  he  was 
condemned,  repented  himself,  and  brought  back  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  and  elders,  saying,  I  have 
sinned  in  that  I  betrayed  innocent  blood. 


THE    ROMAN    CENTURION. 

[Luke  xxiii.  47,  48.] 

When  the  centurion  saw  what  was  done,  he  glorified  God, 
saying.  Certainly  this  was  a  righteous  man.  And  all  the  mul- 
titudes that  came  together  to  this  sight,  when  they  beheld  the 
things  that  were  done,  returned  smiting  their  breasts. 


THE    PENITENT    MALEFACTOR. 

[Luke  xxiii.  39-42.] 

One  of  the  malefactors  who  were  hanged  railed  on  him, 
saying.  Art  not  thou  the  Christ  ?  save  thyself  and  us.  But 
the  other  answered,  and  rebuking  him  said,  Dost  thou  not 
fc-ar  God,  seeing  thou  art  in  the  same  condemnation  ?  And 
we  indeed  justly  ;  for  we  receive  the  due  reward  of  our  deeds  : 
but  this  man  hath  done  nothino-  amiss. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  33 


TESTIMONY    OF    CHURCH    FATHERS. 


CLEMENT    OF    ROME. 

[First  Epistle,  ch.  xxxvi.] 


This  is  the  way,  beloved,  in  which  we  find  our  Saviour, 
even  [esus  Christ,  the  High  Priest  of  all  our  offering's,  the 
defender  and  helper  of  our  infirmity.  By  him  we  look  up  to 
the  heights  of  heaven.  By  him  we  behold,  as  in  a  glass,  the 
immaculate  and  most  excellent  visage.  By  him  are  the  eyes 
of  our  heart  opened.  By  him  our  foolish  and  darkened 
understanding  blossoms  up  anew  towards  his  marvellous  light. 
By  him  the  Lord  has  willed  that  we  should  taste  of  immortal 
knowledge,  "  Who,  being  the  brightness  of  his  majesty,  is  by 
so  much  greater  than  the  angels  as  he  hath  by  inheritance 
obtained  a  more  excellent  name  than  they." 


CLEMENT    OF    ALEXANDRIA. 

[Works,  vol.  i.  pp.  181,  183.] 

Having  now  accomplished  those  things,  it  were  a  fitting 
sequel,  that  our  instructor  Jesus  should  draw  for  us  the  model 
of  the  true  life,  and  train  humanity  in  Christ.  Nor  is  the 
cast  and  character  of  the  life  he  enjoins  very  formidable  ;  nor 
is  it  made  altogether  easy  by  reason  of  his  benignity.  He 
enjoins  his  commands,  and  at  the  same  time  gives  them  such 
a  character  that  they  may  be  accomplished.   .   .  . 

The  greatest  and  most  regal  work  of  God  is  the  salvation 
of  humanity.  The  sick  are  vexed  at  a  physician  who  gives 
no  advice  bearing  on  their  restoration  to  health.  But  how 
shall  we  not  acknowledge  the  highest  gratitude  to  our  divine 


34  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Instructor,  who  is  not  silent,  who  omits  not  those  threatenings 
that  point  toward  destruction,  but  discloses  them,  and  cuts  off 
the  impulses  that  attend  to  them  ;  and  who  indoctrinates  in 
those  counsels  which  result  in  the  true  way  of  living!  We 
must  confess,  therefore,  the  deepest  obligation  to  him.  For 
what  else  do  we  say  is  incumbent  on  the  rational  creature  — 
I  mean  man  —  than  the  contemplation  of  the  Divine  ?  I  say, 
too,  that  it  is  requisite  to  contemplate  human  nature,  and  to 
live  as  the  truth  directs,  and  to  admire  the  Instructor  and 
his  injunctions,  as  suitable  and  harmonious  to  each  other. 
According  to  which  image  also  we  ought,  conforming  our- 
selves to  the  Instructor,  and  making  the  word  and  our  deeds 
agree,  to  live  a  real  life. 


AUGUSTINE. 

[Confessions,  xii.  14.] 


The  teaching  of  Christ  is  a  great  sea  whose  smiling  sur- 
face breaks  into  refreshing  ripples  at  the  feet  of  our  little 
ones,  but  into  whose  unfathomable  depths  the  wisest  may 
eaze  with  the  shudder  of  amazement  and  the  thrill  of  love. 

[Letters,  vol.  ii.  pp.  447,  44S.] 

The  Christ  who  is  preached  throughout  the  whole  world 
is  not  Christ  adorned  with  an  earthly  crown,  nor  Christ  rich 
in  earthly  treasures,  nor  Christ  illustrious  in  prosperity,  but 
Christ  crucified.  This  was  ridiculed,  at  first,  by  whole  nations 
of  proud  men,  and  is  still  ridiculed  by  a  remnant  among  the 
nations  ;  but  it  was  the  object  of  faith  at  first  to  a  few  and  to 
whole  nations,  because  when  Christ  crucified  was  preached 
at  that  time,  notwithstanding  the  ridicule  of  the  nations, 
to  the  few  who  believed,  the  lame  received  power  to  walk,  the 
dumb  to  speak,  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  blind  to  see.  and 
the  dead  were  restored  to  life.  Hius  at  length  the  pride  of 
this  world  was  convinced  that,  even  among  the  things  of  this 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  35 

world,  there  is  nothing  more  powerful  than  the  humility  of 
God,  so  that  beneath  the  shield  of  a  Divine  example  that 
humility  which  it  is  most  profitable  for  men  to  practise  might 
find  defence  against  the  contemptuous  assaults  of  pride. 


ORIGEN. 

[Works,  vol.  i.  p.  32.] 


God  is  the  primal  goodness,  doubtless,  out  of  which  the 
Son  is  born,  who,  being  in  all  respects  the  image  of  the 
Father,  may  certainly  also  be  called  with  propriety  the  image 
of  his  eoodness.  For  there  is  no  other  second  oroodness 
existing  in  the  Son,  save  that  which  is  in  the  Father.  And 
therefore,  also,  the  Saviour  himself  rightly  says  in  the  Gospel, 
*'  There  is  none  good  save  one  only,  God  the  Father :  "  that 
by  such  an  expression  it  may  be  understood  that  the  Son  is 
not  of  a  different  goodness,  but  of  that  only  which  exists  in 
the  Father,  of  whom  he  is  rightly  termed  the  image  because 
he  proceeds  from  no  other  source  but  from  that  primal 
goodness,  lest  there  might  appear  to  be  in  the  Son  a  differ- 
ent goodness  from  that  which  is  in  the  Father. 


POLYCARP. 

[Epistle  to  the  Philippians,  ch.  viii.] 

Let  us,  then,  continually  persevere  in  our  hope  and  the 
earnest  of  our  righteousness,  which  is  Jesus  Christ,  who  bore 
our  sins  in  his  own  body  on  the  tree,  who  did  no  sin,  neither 
was  guile  found  in  his  mouth,  but  endured  all  things  for  us 
that  we  miofht  live  in  him.  Let  us,  then,  be  imitators  of  his 
patience  ;  and  if  we  suffer  for  his  name's  sake,  let  us  glorify 
him,  for  he  has  set  us  this  example  in  himself,  and  we  have 
believed  that  such  is  the  case. 


36  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

CYPRIAN. 

[Works.] 

Jesus  Christ  ruled  over  his  disciples  not  as  servants  in  the 
power  of  a  master,  but  kind  and  gentle  he  loved  them  with  a 
brotherly  love.  He  deigned  even  to  wash  the  apostles'  feet, 
that,  since  the  Lord  is  such  among  his  servants,  he  might 
teach  by  his  example  what  a  fellow-servant  ought  to  be  among 
his  peers  and  equals.  Nor  is  it  to  be  wondered  at,  that 
among  the  obedient  he  showed  himself  such,  since  he  could 
bear  Judas  even  to  the  last  with  a  long  patience,  could  know 
the  household  foe,  and  not  openly  point  him  out,  nor  refuse 
the  kiss  of  a  traitor.  Moreover,  in  bearing  with  the  Jews,  he 
showed  great  equanimity  and  patience  in  turning  the  unbe- 
lieving to  the  faith  by  persuasion,  in  soothing  the  unthankful 
by  concession,  in  answering  gently  to  the  contradictors,  in 
bearing  the  proud  with  clemency,  in  yielding  with  humility 
to  the  persecutors,  in  wishing  to  gather  together  the  slayers 
of  the  prophets,  and  those  who  were  always  rebellious  against 
God,  even  to  the  hour  of  his  cross  and  passion.  .  .  . 

He  was  crowned  with  thorns,  who  crowns  martyrs  with 
eternal  flowers.  He  was  smitten  on  the  face  with  palms,  who 
gives  the  true  palms  to  those  who  overcome.  He  was 
despoiled  of  his  earthly  garment,  who  clothes  others  in  the 
vesture  of  immortality.  He  was  fed  with  gall,  who  gave 
heavenly  food.  He  was  given  to  drink  vinegar,  who  ap- 
pointed the  cup  of  salvation. 

[Vol.  ii.  pp.  26,  27.] 

Even  to  the  end  all  things  are  borne  perseveringly  and 
constantly,  in  order  that  in  Christ  a  full  and  perfect  patience 
may  be  consummated.  And  after  all  these  things  he  still 
receives  his  murderers,  if  they  would-be  converted  and  come 
to  him  ;  and  with  a  saving  patience,  he  who  is  benignant  to 
persevere,   closes  his   Church    to    none.     Those    adversaries, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  37 

those  blasphemers,  those  who  were  ahvays  enemies  to  his 
name,  if  they  repent  of  their  sin,  if  they  acknowledge  the 
crime  committed,  he  receives  not  only  to  the  pardon  of  their 
sin,  but  to  the  reward  of  the  heavenly  kingdom.  What  can 
be  called  more  patient,  what  more  merciful?  Such  and  so 
great  is  the  patience  of  Christ. 


JUSTIN    MARTYR. 

[Second  Apology,  p.  80.] 

No  one  trusted  in  Socrates  so  as  to  die  for  his  doctrine. 
But  in  Christ,  not  only  philosophers  and  scholars  believed,  but 
also  artisans,  and  people  entirely  uneducated,  despising  both 
glory  and  fear  and  death  ;  since  he  is  a  power  of  the  ineffable 
Father,  and  not  the  mere  instrument  of  human  nature. 


IGNATIUS. 

[Epistle  to  the  Philadelphians,  ch.  ix.] 

The  priests  indeed  are  good ;  but  the  High  Priest  is 
better,  to  whom  the  holy  of  holies  has  been  committed,  and 
who  alone  has  been  trusted  with  the  secrets  of  God.  He  is 
the  door  of  the  fold,  by  which  enter  in  Abraham  and  Isaac 
and  Jacob,  and  the  prophets  and  apostles  and  the  Church. 


38  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


TESTIMONY    OF    UNCLASSIFIED    WRITERS. 


FLAVIUS    JOSEPHUS. 

(A.D.  37-100.) 
[ANTiQUiTiEs)(yiii.  3>]     oijJI^'    \i'.%^>% 

About  this  time  lived  Jesus,  a  wise  man,  if  it  be  proper 
to  call  him  a  man.  For  he  was  a  doer  of  surprising  deeds,  a 
teacher  of  men  who  willingly  receive  what  is  true.  And  many 
Jews  and  many  of  the  Greek  race  he  brought  to  his  side. 
This  was  the  Christ ;  and  those  who  first  loved  him  did  not 
cease  to  do  so,  when  Pilate,  on  the  accusation  of  the  chief 
men  among  us,  punished  him  with  the  cross.  For  he  appeared 
to  them  on  the  third  day  alive  again,  the  divine  prophets 
having  spoken  both  this  and  many  other  wonderful  things 
concerning  him.  To  this  day  the  party  of  the  Christians  who 
have  been  named  from  him  have  not  ceased  to  exist. 

Note.  —  The  genuineness  of  the  above  passage  from  Josephus  has  been 
much  disputed.  Many  eminent  scholars  hold  it  to  be  undoubtedly  spurious.  Its 
wide  use  in  the  earlier  apologetic  Christian  literature,  however,  and  its  general 
acceptance  as  the  testimony  of  an  eminent  Jewish  historian  of  the  first  century, 
warrant  me,  perhaps,  in  giving  it  a  place  in  this  collection. 


MARTIN    LUTHER. 

[Table-Talk.     London:  1791.     Ch.  vii.] 

Is  it  not  a  shame  that  we  are  always  afraid  of  Christ  ? 
whereas  there  never  was  in  heaven  nor  on  earth  a  more 
loving,  familiar,  and  milder  man,  both  in  words,  works,  and 
carriage,  especially  towards  poor,  sorrowful,  and  tormented 
consciences.  .  .  . 

The    chief   study  in    divinity  is,    that  we    learn    to  know 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  39 

Christ  aright.  Therefore  says  St.  Peter,  "  Grow  up  in  the 
knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ,"  namely,  that  he  is  the  most 
merciful,  the  most  just  and  wise  ;  and  if  I  might  leave  behind 
me  but  only  this  lesson,  which  with  great  diligence  I  have 
driven  and  taught,  namely,  that  people  would  consider  and 
take  good  heed  of  speculations,  and  instead  thereof  would 
comprehend  and  take  hold  of  Christ  only,  in  the  most  plain 
and  simple  manner,  then  I  should  think  myself  happy,  and 
that  I  had  accomplished  much. 


HUGO    GROTIUS. 

[Truth  of  the  Christian  Religion.     London:  1840.     Pp.  114,  115.] 

Christ  is  described  by  his  disciples  to  be  without  any 
manner  of  sin  ;  nor  could  he  ever  be  proved  to  have  com- 
mitted any,  by  the  testimony  of  others  ;  and  whatever  he 
commanded  others,  he  performed  himself,  for  he  faithfully 
fulfilled  all  things  that  God  commanded  him.  He  was  most 
sincere  in  the  whole  course  of  his  life ;  he  was  the  most  patient 
of  injuries  and  torments  ;  he  was  so  great  a  lover  of  man- 
kind, of  his  enemies,  even  of  those  by  whom  he  was  led  to 
death,  that  he  prayed  to  God  for  them.  And  the  reward  that 
he  promised  to  his  followers,  he  was  possessed  of  himself,  in 
a  most  eminent  manner,  as  is  declared  and  proved  by  certain 
testimony.  Many  saw,  heard,  and  handled  him,  after  his 
return  to  life  again.  He  was  taken  up  into  heaven  in  the 
sight  of  twelve,  and  that  he  there  obtained  the  highest  power 
is  manifest  from  this  :  that  he  endowed  his  disciples  with  a 
power  to  speak  those  languages  which  they  had  never  learned. 
All  these  things  put  together  show  that  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  his  faithfulness,  or  of  his  power  to  recompense  us  with 
that  reward  he  has  promised.  And  hence  it  is  we  collect,  that 
this  religion  excels  all  others  in  this  particular  also  :  That  the 
Author  of  it  performed  himself  as  he  commanded,  and  was 
possessed  of  what  he  promised. 


40  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CEN2URIES 

FRANCIS    BACON. 

[Works.     Boston:   1861.     Vol.  xiv.  p.  53.] 

Jesus  the  Lord  became  a  sacrifice  for  sin  ;  a  pattern  for 
all  righteousness  ;  a  preacher  of  the  word  which  himself  was ; 
a  corner-stone  to  remove  the  separation  between  Jew  and 
Gentile;  an  intercessor  of  the  Church;  a  Lord  of  nature  in 
his  miracles  ;  a  conqueror  of  death  and  the  power  of  darkness 
in  his  resurrection.  He  fulfilled  the  whole  counsel  of  God, 
performed  his  whole  sacred  offices  and  anointing  on  earth, 
accomplished  the  whole  work  of  the  redemption  and  restitu- 
tion of  men  to  a  state  superior  to  the  angels,  and  reconciled 
or  established  all  things  according  to  the  eternal  will  of  the 
Father. 


THOMAS    A    KEMPIS. 

[The  Imitation  of  Christ,  Book  I.  ch.  i. ;  Book  II.  ch.  viii.] 

"  He  that  followeth  me  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,"  saith 
the  Lord.  These  are  the  words  of  Christ,  by  which  we  are 
reminded  that  we  must  copy  his  life  and  conduct,  if  we  wish 
to  be  truly  enlightened  and  to  be  delivered  from  all  blindness 
of  heart.  To  meditate  on  the  life  of  Jesus,  should  therefore 
be  our  chief  study. 

His  teaching  surpasses  all  that  the  saints  have  taught,  and 
he  who  has  the  Spirit  will  find  in  it  the  "  hidden  manna." 
But  it  happens  that  many  who  are  offered  the  gospel,  experi- 
ence but  little  desire  for  it,  because  they  do  not  possess  the 
Spirit  of  Christ.  For,  if  you  would  completely  and  with 
delight  enter  into  the  meaning  of  Christ's  words,  )ou  must 
take  pains  to  bring  your  life  into  entire  conformity  with  his. 

When  Jesus  is  present,  all  is  well,  and  nothing  seems 
difficult  ;  but  when  Jesus  is  absent,  every  thing  seems  hard. 

When  Jesus  does  not  speak  to  the  soul,  all  other  consola- 
tion is  of  no  avail. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  4 1 

But  if  Jesus  speaks  only  one  word,  there  is  a  feeling  of 
great  comfort. 

Did  not  Mary  instantly  rise  up  from  the  place  where  she 
wept,  when  Martha  said  to  her,  "  The  Master  is  come,  and 
calleth  for  thee  "  ? 

It  is  a  happy  hour  when  Jesus  calls  you  from  tears  to 
spiritual  joy. 

If  Jesus  is  with  you,  no  enemy  can  hurt  you. 

He  who  finds  Jesus  finds  a  good  treasure  ;  yes,  good 
beyond  all  good. 

And  he  who  loses  Jesus  loses  very  much,  ah  !  more  than 
the  whole  world. 

-He  is  very  poor  who  lives  without  Jesus  :  he  is  very  rich 
who  has  him  for  his  friend. 

It  is  a  great  art  to  know  how  to  hold  converse  with  Jesus, 
and  to  know  how  to  detain  him  in  the  soul  is  great  wisdom. 

Be  lowly  and  restful,  and  Jesus  will  be  present  with  you. 

Be  devout  and  quiet,  and  Jesus  will  remain  with  you. 


BLAISE    PASCAL. 

[Thoughts.     New  York:  1S69.     Pp.  257,  318,  319,  334.] 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  object  of  all,  and  the  centre  whither 
all  tends.  Whoever  knows  him  knows  the  reason  of  all 
things.   .   .  . 

Great  geniuses  have  their  empire,  their  renown,  their 
greatness,  their  victory,  and  their  lustre  ;  and  have  no  need 
of  material  grandeurs,  with  which  they  have  no  relation. 
They  are  seen,  not  with  the  eyes,  but  with  the  mind :  that  is 
enough.  The  saints  have  their  empire,  their  renown,  their 
victory,  their  lustre  ;  and  have  no  need  of  material  or  intel- 
lectual grandeur,  with  which  they  have  no  relation,  for  they 
neither  add  to  them  nor  take  from  them.  They  are  seen  of 
God  and  angels,  and  not  by  body  and  curious  intellect.  God 
is  sufficient  for  them. 


42  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Archimedes,  without  material  splendor,  would  be  held  in 
the  same  veneration.  He  gained  no  battles  for  the  satisfac- 
tion of  the  carnal  eye,  but  he  furnished  all  minds  with  his 
inventions.     Oh,  what  splendor  he  had  for  minds  ! 

JESUS  CHRIST,  without  wealth  and  without  any  out- 
ward production  of  science,  is  in  his  order  of  holiness.  He 
gave  no  inventions;  he  did  not  reign:  but  he  was  humble, 
patient,  holy  to  God,  terrible  to  demons,  without  any  sin. 
Oh,  with  what  great  pomp  and  with  what  prodigious  magnifi- 
cence did  he  come  to  the  eyes  of  the  heart,  and  eyes  which 
see  wisdom !  It  would  have  been  useless  for  Archimedes 
to  affect  the  prince  in  his  books  of  geometry,  although  he 
mieht  have  done  this.  It  would  have  been  useless  for  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  in  order  to  appear  with  splendor  in  his 
reign  of  holiness,  to  come  as  a  king.  But  with  what  a  splen- 
dor of  his  own  order  has  he  indeed  come! 

Jesus  Christ  has  said  great  things  so  simply,  that  it  seems 
that  he  has  not  thought  of  them  ;  and  so  precisely,  neverthe- 
less, that  we  see  clearly  what  he  thought  of  them.  This 
clearness,  joined  to  this  simplicity,  is  admirable. 

He  who  does  not  know  him  knows  nothing  of  the  order 
of  the  world,  and  nothing  of  himself.  For,  not  only  do  we 
know  God  by  Jesus  Christ,  but  we  only  know  ourselves  by 
Jesus  Christ.  In  him  is  all  our  goodness,  our  virtue,  our  life, 
our  hope  ;  without  him,  there  is  for  us  only  misery,  darkness, 
and  despair  ;  and  we  shall  see  only  obscurity  and  conlusion 
in  the  nature  of  God,  and  in  our  own  nature. 


BENEDICT    SPINOZA. 

[Tractatus  Thf.ologico-Politicus — Spinoza:  His  Likk  and  PHii.osoritY.     London: 

iSSo.     Sects.  22,  24.] 

Tiiou(;ii  we  clearly  understand  that  Goi.1  can  communicate 
immediately  with  hkmi  (for  he  communicates  his  nature  to 
our  mintl  without    any  bodily  instrument),  yet    that    a    man 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  43 

should  purely  in  his  mind  perceive  matters  which  be  not  con- 
tained in  the  first  principles  of  our  knowledge,  nor  can  be 
deduced  therefrom,  his  mind  must  be  of  surpassing  excellence 
and  above  man's  capacity.  Wherefore  I  believe  not  that  any  ■ 
man  ever  came  to  that  singular  height  of  perfection  but 
Christ,  to  whom  the  ordinances  of  God  that  lead  man  to 
salvation  were  revealed,  not  in  words  or  in  visions,  but 
immediately :  so  that  God  manifested  himself  to  the  apostles 
by  the  mind  of  Christ,  as  formerly  to  Moses  by  means  of  a 
voice  in  the  air. 

And  therefore  the  voice  of  Christ  may  be  called,  like  that 
which  Moses  heard,  the  voice  of  God.     In  this  sense  we  may 
likewise   say  that  the  wisdom    of   God  —  that    is,  a  wisdom 
above  man's  —  took  man's  nature  in  Christ,  and  that  Christ  . 
is  the  way  of  salvation. 


JACQUES    BENIGNE    BOSSUET. 

[Select  Sermons.     London:  1880.     Pp.  70,  72.] 

It  is  not  wonderful  that  the  sentiment  of  compassion 
should  prevail  in  the  bosom  of  our  Redeemer.  According  to 
Tertullian,  the  first  development  of  the  economy  of  God 
towards  man  is  benevolence,  and  the  reason  is  sufficiently 
clear;  for,  in  order  to  trace  the  original  inclination,  we  must 
seek  for  that  which  is  most  natural,  as  nature  is  the  root  from 
which  all  other  tendencies  and  sensations  spring.  Having 
the  nature  to  bless,  it  is  natural  in  God  to  diffuse  the  blessing. 
As  the  fountain  sends  forth  its  waters,  as  the  sun  expands  his 
beams  ;  therefore  it  is  that  the  Son  of  God,  our  Pontiff,  our 
Advocate,  our  Intercessor,  is  assimilated  to  the  Father  in  the 
characteristic  feature  of  benevolence.  This  amiable  disposi- 
tion is  strongly  marked  in  those  words  of  St.  Peter  to 
Cornelius  :  "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  who  went  about  doing  good." 
Simple  and  unadorned  but  beautiful  eulogium  !  How  differ- 
ent from  the  insensate  eloquence  of  the  day,  who,  when  she 


44  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

would  extol  some  renowned  soldier,  tells  us  he  marched 
through  the  country  of  the  enemy  with  victory  at  his  side  ! 
Now,  what  means,  in  the  language  of  the  panegyrist,  to 
overrun  the  country  of  the  enemy  with  victory  at  his  side  ? 
Is  it  not  to  open  the  flood-gates  of  blood,  and  to  commit 
universal  slaughter  ?  How  different  was  the  passage  of  the 
victorious  Jesus  through  Judaea  !  Benevolence  was  the  victory 
that  accompanied  his  steps.  Afliiction,  sickness,  mental  dis- 
order, flew  at  his  approach.  Not  only  was  the  house  where 
he  sojourned  thus  blessed  by  his  active  compassion  ;  every 
impression  of  his  steps  may  be  said  to  have  been  accompa- 
nied by  the  vestiges  of  his  abundant  goodness.  As  the 
sower  scatters  the  seed  as  he  moves  along,  the  Son  of  God, 
wherever  he  went,  diffused  his  divine  favors. 

Did  any  one  inquire,  why  in  that  town,  or  in  that  hamlet, 
no  lame  or  blind  person  or  miserable  object  appeared,  the 
answer  was  ready:  The  compassionate  Jesus  has  just  passed 
through. 


JEREMY    TAYLOR. 

[Works.    London:   1S39.     Vol.  ii.  p.  63.] 

I  CONSIDER  that  the  imitation  of  the  life  of  Jesus  is  a  duty 
of  that  excellency  and  perfection,  that  all  are  helped  in  it, 
not  only  by  the  assistance  of  a  good  and  great  example,  which 
possibly  might  be  too  great,  and  scare  our  endeavors  and 
attempts ;  but  also  by  its  easiness,  compliance,  and  proportion 
to  us.  For  Jesus,  in  his  whole  life,  conversed  with  men  with 
a  modest  virtue,  which,  like  a  well-kindled  fire  fitted  with  just 
materials,  casts  a  constant  heat ;  not  like  an  inflamed  heap  of 
stubble,  glaring  with  great  emissions,  and  suddenly  stooi)ing 
into  the  thickness  of  smoke.  His  piety  was  even,  constant, 
unblamable,  complying  with  civil  society  without  aflriglitment 
of  precedent  or  prodigious  instances  of  actions  greater  than 
the  imitation  of  men.  For,  if  we  observe  our  blessed  Saviour 
in  the  whole  story  of  his  life,  although  he  was  without  sin,  yet 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  45 

the  instances  of  his  piety  were  the  actions  of  a  very  holy 
but  of  an  ordinary  Hfe  ;  and  we  may  observe  this  difference 
in  the  story  of  Jesus,  from  ecclesiastical  writings  of  certain 
persons,  whose  life  is  told  rather  to  amaze  us,  and  to  create 
scruples,  than  to  lead  us  in  the  evenness  and  serenity  of  a 
holy  conscience. 

JEAN    BAPTISTE    MASSILLON. 

[Sermons.     Dublin:   1S76.     P.  62.] 

No  man  ever  conferred  such  inestimable  blessings  on 
mankind  as  Jesus.  He  has  purchased  for  us  an  eternal  peace  ; 
he  has  imparted  to  us  happiness,  justice,  and  truth  ;  he  has 
renewed  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  His  favors  are  not  con- 
fined to  one  people  or  to  one  generation  ;  they  are  extended 
to  every  nation  and  to  every  age  ;  and,  what  is  more,  those 
inestimable  blessings  he  purchased  for  us  at  no  less  a  price 
than  that  of  his  precious  blood.  If,  therefore,  gratitude 
exalted  the  mere  instruments  of  the  mercies  of  God  to  the 
rank  of  divinities,  surely  no  one  was  more  entitled  to  that  dis- 
tinction than  Jesus. 

THOMAS    CHUBB. 

[The  True  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  pp.  55,  56.] 

In  Christ  we  have  an  example  of  a  quiet  and  a  peaceable 
spirit ;  of  a  becoming  modesty  and  sobriety  ;  just,  honest, 
upright,  sincere ;  and,  above  all,  of  a  most  gracious  and 
benevolent  temper  and  behavior.  One  who  did  no  wrong, 
no  injury  to  any  man  ;  in  whose  mouth  was  no  guile  ;  who 
went  about  doing  good,  not  only  by  his  ministry,  but  in  curing 
all  manner  of  diseases  among  the  people.  His  life  was  a 
beautiful  picture  of  human  nature  in  its  native  purity  and 
simplicity,  and  showed  at  once  what  excellent  creatures  men 
would  be  when  under  the  influence  and  power  of  that  gospel 
which  he  preached  unto  them. 


46  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

FRANCOIS    MARIE    AROUET    DE    VOLTAIRE. 

[Treatise  on  Toleration,  p.  95.] 

Christ  died  die  victim  of  envy.  If  we  may  compare 
things  sacred  with  things  profane,  and  God  with  man,  his 
death  greatly  resembled  that  of  Socrates.  The  Greek  phi- 
losopher perished  by  the  hatred  of  sophists,  the  priests,  and 
the  leaders  of  the  people  ;  the  Christian  Legislator  perished 
under  the  hatred  of  the  scribes,  Pharisees,  and  priests. 
Socrates  might  have  avoided  death,  but  would  not ;  Jesus 
Christ  offered  himself  voluntarily.  The  Greek  philosopher 
not  only  pardoned  his  calumniators  and  iniquitous  judges,  but 
he  begged  them  to  treat  his  children  as  they  had  treated  him, 
if  they  should  be  happy  enough,  like  him,  to  merit  their 
displeasure  ;  the  Christian  Legislator,  infinitely  superior,  peti- 
tioned his  Father  to  forgive  his  enemies. 

If  Jesus  Christ  seemed  to  fear  death  ;  if  the  anguish  he 
felt  was  so  great  as  to  draw  from  him  sweat  mingled  with 
blood,  which  is  a  very  uncommon  and  violent  symptom,  —  it 
was  because  he  condescended  to  all  the  weakness  of  humanity, 
which  he  had  taken  on  him.  His  body  trembled,  but  his  soul 
was  immovable ;  he  taught  us  that  real  fortitude  and  real 
greatness  consist  in  bearing  evils,  under  which  our  nature 
sinks.  It  must  be  courage  in  the  extreme  to  seek  death 
even  while  we  fear  it. 


RICHARD    HOOKER. 

[Complete  Works,  vol.  i.  p.  397.] 

The  soul  of  Christ,  that  saw  in  this  life  the  face  of  God, 
was  here  through  so  visible  a  presence  of  Deity,  filled  with 
all  manner  of  o-raccs  and  virtues  in  that  unmatched  deo'ree 
of  perfection  for  which  of  him  we  read  it  written  :  "  That  God 
with  the  oil  of  gladness  anointed  him  above  his  fellows." 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  47 

JEAN    JACQUES    ROUSSEAU. 

[Complete  Works.     (Emilius)  Edinburgh  :   1773.     Vol.  ii.  pp.  215-218.] 

I  WILL  confess  to  you,  that  the  majesty  of  the  Scriptures 
strikes  me  with  admiration,  as  the  purity  of  the  gospel  has  its 
influence  on  my  heart.  Peruse  the  works  of  our  philosophers, 
with  all  their  pomp  of  diction  :  how  mean,  how  contemptible, 
are  they,  compared  with  the  Scriptures !  Is  it  possible  that 
the  sacred  personage  whose  history  they  contain  should  be 
himself  a  mere  man  ?  Do  we  find  that  he  assumed  the  tone 
of  an  enthusiast  or  ambitious  sectary  ?  What  sweetness, 
what  purity,  in  his  manner!  What  an  affecting  grace  in  his 
instructions  !  What  sublimity  in  his  maxims  !  What  profound 
wisdom  in  his  discourses!  What  presence  of  mind,  what 
subtlety,  what  fitness,  in  his  replies !  How  great  the  com- 
mand over  his  passions !  Where  is  the  man,  where  the 
philosopher,  who  could  so  live  and  so  die,  without  weakness, 
and  without  ostentation  ?  When  Plato  describes  his  imaginary 
righteous  man,  loaded  with  all  the  punishments  of  guilt,  yet 
meriting  the  highest  rewards  of  virtue,  he  describes  exactly 
the  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  The  resemblance  is  so  striking, 
that  all  the  Church  fathers  perceived  it.  What  an  infinite 
disproportion  there  is  between  them !  What  prepossession, 
what  blindness,  must  it  be  to  compare  the  son  of  Sophroniscus 
to  the  Son  of  Mary !  Socrates,  dying  without  pain  or  igno- 
miny, easily  supported  his  character  to  the  last ;  and,  if  this 
easy  death  had  not  crowned  his  life,  it  might  have  been 
doubted  whether  Socrates,  with  all  his  wisdom,  was  any  thing 
more  than  a  mere  sophist.  .  He  invented,  it  is  said,  the  theory 
of  ethics.  Others,  however,  had  before  put  them  into  prac- 
tice :  he  had  only  to  say,  therefore,  what  they  had  done,  and 
to  reduce  their  examples  to  precepts.  Aristides  had  been  just, 
before  Socrates  defined  justice.  Leonidas  had  given  up  his 
life  for  his  country,  before  Socrates  had  declared  patriotism  to 
be  a  duty.    The  Spartans  were  a  sober  people,  before  Socrates 


48  TESTIMONY   OF  NIX E  TEEN   CENTURIES 

recommended  sobriety.  Before  he  had  even  defined  virtue, 
Greece  abounded  in  virtuous  men.  But  where  could  Jesus 
learn,  among  his  contemporaries,  that  pure  and  sublime 
morality  of  which  he  only  has  given  us  both  precept  and 
example  ?  The  greatest  wisdom  was  made  known  among  the 
most  bigoted  fanaticism,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  most  heroic 
virtues  did  honor  to  the  vilest  people  on  earth. 

The  death  of  Socrates,  peacefully  philosophizing  among 
friends,  appears  the  most  agreeable  that  one  could  wish  ;  that 
of  Jesus,  expiring  in  agonies,  abused,  insulted,  and  accused  by 
a  whole  nation,  is  the  most  horrible  that  one  could  fear. 
Socrates,  indeed,  in  receiving  the  cup  of  poison,  blessed  the 
weeping  executioner  who  administered  it  ;  but  Jesus,  amidst 
excruciating  tortures,  prayed  for  his  merciless  tormentors. 

Yes,  if  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  w^ere  those  of  a  sage, 
the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  are  those  of  a  God.  Shall  we 
suppose  the  evangelical  history  a  mere  fiction  ?  Indeed,  my 
friend,  it  bears  no  marks  of  fiction.  On  the  contrary,  the 
history  of  Socrates,  which  no  one  presumes  to  doubt,  is  not 
so  well  attested  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ.  Such  a  supposition, 
in  fact,  only  shifts  the  difficulty  without  obviating  it.  It  is 
more  inconceivable  that  a  number  of  persons  should  agree  to 
write  such  a  history,  than  that  one  should  furnish  the  subject 
of  it.  The  Jewish  authors  were  incapable  of  the  diction,  and 
strangers  to  the  morality,  contained  in  the  gospel.  The  marks 
of  its  truth  are  so  striking  and  inimitable,  that  the  inventor 
would  be  a  more  astonishing  character  than  the  hero. 


WILLIAM     SHAKSPEARE. 

[Last  Wii.i,  and  Testament,  r6i6.] 

I  coMMKxn  my  soul  into  the  hands  of  (jod  my  Creator, 
hoping,  and  assurcdl)-  bc-licN-ing,  through  iIk;  onlv  merits  of 
Jesus  Christ  ni)'  Saviour,  to  be  made  partaker  of  life  ever- 
lasting. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  49 

SAMUEL   JOHNSON. 

[Works.     Oxford:  1825.     Vol.  ix.  p.  520.] 

To  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light ;  to  give  such  proofs 
of  our  future  existence,  as  may  influence  the  most  narrow 
mind,  and  fill  the  most  capacious  intellect ;  to  open  prospects 
beyond  the  grave,  in  which  the  thought  may  expatiate  without 
obstructions  ;  and  to  supply  a  refuge  and  a  support  to  the 
mind  amidst  all  the  miseries  of  decaying  nature,  —  is  the  pecul- 
iar excellence  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  Without  this  heavenly 
Instructor,  he  who  feels  himself  sinking  under  the  weight  of 
years,  or  melting  away  by  the  slow  waste  of  lingering  disease, 
has  no  other  remedy  than  obdurate  patience,  —  a  gloomy 
resignation  to  that  which  cannot  be  avoided  ;  and  he  who 
follows  his  friend,  or  whoever  is  yet  dearer  than  a  friend,  to 
the  Qrrave,  can  have  no  other  consolation  than  that  which  he 
derives  from  the  general  misery.  The  reflection  that  he  suffers 
only  what  the  rest  of  mankind  must  suffer,  is  a  poor  consid- 
eration, which  rather  awes  us  to  silence  than  soothes  us  to 
quiet,  and  which  does  not  abate  the  sense  of  our  calamity, 
though  it  may  make  us  ashamed  to  complain. 


JOHN   WESLEY. 

[Complete  Works.     New  York  :  1831.     Pp.  180,  181.] 

We  may,  lastly,  observe  how  our  Lord  teaches  here.  And 
surely,  as  at  all  times,  so  particularly  at  this,  he  speaks  "as 
never  man  spake."  Not  as  the  holy  men  of  old,  although 
they  also  spoke  "  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Not  as  Peter,  or  James,  or  John,  or  Paul.  They  were,  indeed, 
wise  master-builders  in  his  church  ;  but  still  in  this,  in  the 
degrees  of  heavenly  wisdom,  the  servant  is  not  as  his  Lord. 
No,  nor  even  as  himself  at  any  other  time  or  on  any  other 
occasion.     It  does  not  appear  that  it  ever  was  his  design  at 


50  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

any  other  time  or  place  to  lay  down  at  once  the  whole  plan 
of  his  religion,  to  give  us  a  full  prospect  of  Christianity,  to 
describe  at  large  the  nature  of  that  holiness  without  which 
no  man  shall  see  the  Lord. 

Above  all,  with  what  amazing  love  does  the  Son  of  God 
here  reveal  his  Father's  will  to  man  !  He  does  not  bring  us 
again  to  the  mount  "  that  burned  with  fire,  nor  unto  blackness, 
and  darkness,  and  tempest."  He  does  not  speak  as  when  he 
"  thundered  out  of  heaven."  He  now  addresses  us  with  his 
still  small  voice :  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit."  Happy  are 
the  mourners,  the  meek,  those  that  hunger  after  righteous- 
ness, the  merciful,  the  pure  in  heart,  —  happy  in  the  end  and 
in  the  way ;  happy  in  this  life  and  in  life  everlasting.  As 
if  he  had  said.  Who  is  he  that  lusteth  to  live,  and  would  fain 
see  good  days  ?  Behold,  I  show  you  the  thing  which  your 
soul  longeth  for.  See  the  way  you  have  so  long  sought  in 
vain ;  the  way  of  pleasantness ;  the  path  to  calm,  joyous 
peace,  to  heaven  below  and  heaven  above. 


THOMAS  JEFFERSON. 

[Works.     Philadelphia:   1871.     Vol.  iv.  p.  479.] 

To  the  corruptions  of  Christianity  I  am  opposed,  but  not 
to  the  genuine  precepts  of  Jesus  himself.  I  am  a  Christian 
in  the  only  sense  in  which  he  wishes  any  one  to  be:  sincerely 
attracted  to  his  doctrines,  in  preference  to  all  others ;  as- 
cribing to  him  every  human  excellence,  and  believing  he 
never  claimed  any  other. 

[Vol.  iv.  pp.  482,  483.] 

In  a  letter  to  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush,  dated  Washington, 
April  21,  1803,  President  Jefferson  enclosed  a  syllabus  of  an 
estimate  of  the  merits  of  the  doctrines  of  Jesus,  compared 
with  those  of  others.     Of  Jesus  he  said,  — 

I.   He  corrected  the  deism  of  the  Jews,  confirming  them 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  5 1 

in  the  belief  of  one  only  God,  and  giving  them  juster  notions 
of  his  attributes  and  government. 

2.  His  moral  doctrines,  relatinor  to  kindred  and  friends, 
were  more  pure  and  perfect  than  those  of  the  most  correct  of 
the  philosophers,  and  greatly  more  so  than  those  of  the  Jews  ; 
and  they  went  far  beyond  both  in  inculcating  universal  philan- 
thropy, not  only  to  kindred  and  friends,  to  neighbors  and 
countrymen,  but  to  all  mankind,  gathering  all  into  one  family, 
under  the  bonds  of  love,  charity,  peace,  common  wants,  and 
common  aids. 

3.  The  precepts  of  philosophy,  and  of  the  Hebrew  code, 
laid  hold  of  actions  only.  He  pushed  his  scrutiny  into  the 
heart  of  men  ;  he  erected  his  tribunal  in  the  reeion  of 
the  thoughts,  and  purified  the  waters  at  the  fountain-head. 

4.  He  taught,  emphatically,  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state, 
which  was  either  doubted  or  disbelieved,  and  wielded  it  with 
efficacy  as  an  important  incentive,  supplementary  to  the  other 
motives  to  moral  conduct. 


IMMANUEL    KANT. 

(1724-1804.) 
[An  Inquiry  into  the  Existence  of  God.     London :  1836.    Pp.  249,  250.] 

In  the  life  and  the  divine  doctrine  of  Christ  which  are 
recorded  in  the  Gospel,  example  and  precept  conspire  to  call 
men  to  the  regular  discharge  of  every  moral  duty  for  its  own 
sake,  to  the  universal  practice  of  pure  virtue.  "  He  can't  be 
wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

The  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  in  particular,  comprises  so 
pure  a  moral  doctrine  of  religion,  which  Jesus  obviously  had 
the  intention  of  introducing  among  the  Jews,  that  we  cannot 
avoid  considerinof  it  as  the  word  of  God. 

Beyond  doubt,  Christ  is  the  founder  of  the  first  true 
Church  ;  that  is,  that  Church,  which,  purified  from  the  folly 


52  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

of  superstition  and  the  meanness  of  fanaticism,  exhibits  the 
moral  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth,  as  far  as  it  can  be  done 
by  man. 

For  the  true  end  of  all  religion  of  reason  is  the  rectification 
of  the  heart,  or  the  moral  amendment  of  man. 


THOMAS    PAINE. 

[The  Age  of  Reason.     Boston :   1854.    P.  30.] 

Nothing  that  is  here  said  can  apply,  even  with  the  most 
distant  disrespect,  to  the  real  character  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
was  a  virtuous  anjd  an  amiable  man.  The  morality  that 
he  preached  and  practised  was  of  the  most  benevolent  kind  ; 
and  though  similar  systems  of  morality  had  been  preached 
by  Confucius  and  by  some  of  the  Greek  philosophers  many 
years  before,  by  the  Quakers  since,  and  by  many  good  men 
in  all  ages,  it  has  not  been  exceeded  by  any. 


JOSEPH    PRIESTLY. 

[Socrates  and  Jesus  compared.     Philadelphia:  1S03.    Pp.  35-37,  42-45,  58-60.] 

Both  Jesus  and  Socrates  took  advantage  of  present  inci- 
dents as  hints  for  their  instructive  discourses ;  but  those 
of  Socrates  have  the  appearance  of  having  been  contrived 
beforehand,  while  those  to  which  Jesus  alluded  were  such  as 
naturally  presented  them.selves  at  the  time. 

What  was  peculiar  to  Socrates  was  his  proposing  to  his 
hearers  a  series  of  questions,  by  means  of  which  he  made  the 
conclusions  he  wished  to  have  drawn  seem  to  be  their  own  : 
so  that  all  objections  were  precluded. 

A  great  peculiarity  in  the  discourses  of  Jesus,  though  his 
manner  was  very  various  and  often  authoritatively  didactic, 
which  that  of  Socrates  never  was,  consisted  in  numerous 
parables,  the  meaning  of  which,  when  he   intended  it  to  be 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  53 

SO,  was  sufficiently  obvious  and  peculiarly  striking.  At  other 
times  there  was  an  intended  obscurity  in  the  parables  and 
sayings  of  Jesus.  He  did  not  always  wish  to  be  understood 
at  the  time,  but  to  have  what  he  said  to  be  remembered,  and 
reflected  upon  afterwards. 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  there  are  not,  in  the  most  elabo- 
rate compositions  of  the  ancients  or  moderns,  any  parables  so 
excellent  for  pertinency  to  the  occasions  on  which  they  were 
delivered,  for  propriety  and  consistency  in  their  parts,  and  for 
important  meaning,  as  those  of  Jesus. 

Numerous  as  they  are,  they  all  appear  to  have  been  unpre- 
meditated, as  they  arose  from  circumstances  in  which  the 
speaker  had  no  choice.  There  is  nothing  trifling  or  absurd  in 
any  of  them ;  and  few  others,  though  the  result  of  much 
study,  are  free  from  some  objection  of  this  kind.  It  will  not 
be  supposed  that  the  parables  of  Jesus  received  any  improve- 
ment from  the  writers  of  his  life  ;  and  yet,  the  more  they  are 
studied,  the  more  admirable  they  are  found  to  be. 

Both  the  discourses  and  the  general  manner  and  life  of 
Socrates  and  Jesus  have  an  obvious  resemblance,  as  they  both 
went  about  gratuitously  doing  good,  according  to  their  several 
abilities,  situations,  and  opportunities  ;  but  we  see  an  infinite 
superiority  with  respect  to  Jesus,  though  he  had  no  such 
advantage  of  education  and  instruction  as  Socrates  had.  Not- 
withstanding this  great  disadvantage,  we  find  that,  without 
any  previous  preparation  that  was  visible,  Jesus  from  his  very 
first  appearance  assumed  more  authority  as  a  teacher,  and  as 
a  reprover  of  vice,  than  any  other  man  before  or  since ; 
addressing  himself  to  great  multitudes  or  single  persons,  the 
most  eminent  for  their  rank  or  knowledge,  without  the  least 
embarrassment,  and  with  an  air  of  superiority  to  all  men,  and 
yet  without  the  appearance  of  any  thing  impertinent,  osten- 
tatious, or  insulting. 

Had  Socrates  introduced  any  of  his  instructionswith"  Verily,   '' 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,"  or  any  language  of  similar  import,  he 
would  have  exposed  himself  to  the  ridicule  of  his  audience, 


54  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

even  in  the  latest  period  of  his  life,  when  he  had  acquired  the 
greatest  respect  and  authority.  But  this  language  was  usual 
with  Jesus  from  the  very  first ;  as  in  his  discourse  on  the 
Mount,  when,  instead  of  being  insulted,  he  by  this  ver}'  means 
excited  the  Qrreater  veneration  and  attachment. 

But  independently  of  this  superior  authority  with  which 
Jesus  always  delivered  himself,  the  subjects  of  his  discourse 
and  exhortations  were  far  more  serious  and  weighty  than  those 
of  Socrates.  .  .  .  The  great  inferiority  of  all  heathens  with 
respect  to  knowledge,  especially  concerning  God,  providence, 
and  a  future  state,  made  it  absolutely  impossible  that  the 
moral  discourses  of  Socrates  should  have  the  clearness,  the 
weight,  and  importance  of  those  of  Jesus. 

To  resort  once  more  to  the  conduct  of  Socrates  and  Jesus, 
Socrates  behaved  with  great  propriety  and  dignity  at  his  trial, 
but  it  was  by  no  means  equal  to  the  behavior  of  Jesus  in 
similar  circumstances. 

There  is  a  remarkable  difference  between  the  general 
conduct  of  Jesus  and  that  of  Socrates,  with  respect  to  the 
persons  to  whom  they  usually  addressed  their  instructions. 
All  the  teaching  of  the  latter  was  confined  to  persons  of  good 
condition,  such  as  were  likely  to  have  influence  in  the  impor- 
tant offices  and  concerns  of  the  state ;  but  this  was  no 
particular  object  with  Jesus.  Though  Socrates,  unlike  other 
philosophers,  took  no  money  for  his  instructions,  his  admoni- 
tions appear  to  have  been  confined  to  persons  of  the  same 
class  with  the  pupils  of  the  others.  There  is  not  one  of  the 
dialogues  in  which  he  is  the  speaker,  either  in  Xenophon  or 
Plato,  in  which  the  common  people  are  any  part  of  the 
audience  ;  so  that  the  great  mass  of  citizens  could  not  receive 
any  benefit  froni  his  teaching.  On  the  other  hantl.  the  tlis- 
courses  of  Jesus  were  addressed  to  persons  ot  all  ranks 
promiscuously,  and  generally  to  crowds  of  the  common  people, 
though  without  excluding  any,  and  rather  selecting  those  of 
the  lower  classes,  who  were  held  in  contempt  by  the  learned 
scribes  and  Pharisees,  for  his  audience.      Me  was  commonly 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  55 

attended  by  great  multitudes,  of  whom  very  few  can  be  thought 
to  have  been  what  we  call  persons  of  condition,  or  who  were 
likely  to  have  any  influence  in  public  affairs,  to  which,  indeed, 
his  instructions  had  no  relation  whatever. 

Sometimes  persons  of  better  condition  and  of  a  higher 
rank,  such  as  Nicodemus,  applied  to  Jesus  ;  but  we  nev6r 
find  that  he  sought  their  society,  or  first  in  any  manner  applied 
to  them  or  to  any  of  the  scribes  or  Pharisees,  who  were  the 
leading  men  in  the  country :  whereas  Socrates,  with  the  best 
views  no  doubt,  appears  to  have  applied  to  no  other.  In  this 
circumstance,  however,  we  see  a  strikinor  difference  between 
these  two  teachers  of  virtue.  The  object  of  Socrates  was  the 
instruction  of  a  few;  but  that  of  Jesus,  of  the  many,  and 
especially  of  those  of  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  as  standing 
in  most  need  of  instruction,  and  most  likely  to  receive  it 
with  gratitude  and  without  prejudice. 

The  habitual  piety  of  Jesus  was  such  as  could  not  have 
been  expected  of  Socrates  or  the  most  virtuous  of  the  hea- 
thens. He  appears  to  have  spoken  and  acted  as  at  all  times 
not  only  in  the  immediate  presence,  but  as  by  the  immediate 
direction,  of  God.  Raised  as  he  was  to  a  pre-eminence  above 
all  other  men,  he  seems  to  have  been,  even  more  than  any 
other  man,  sensible  of  his  dependence  upon  God  ;  and  he  had 
recourse  to  him  on  all  occasions.  We  even  read  of  his 
spending  a  whole  night  in  prayer  to  God  ;  and  it  was  in 
obedience  to  his  will,  that  notwithstanding  the  dread  that  he 
naturally  felt  for  the  painful  death  to  which  he  was  destined, 
and  the  horror  he  expressed  on  the  near  view  of  it,  he 
voluntarily  and  patiently  submitted  to  it.  He  prayed,  and  with 
peculiar  earnestness,  that  the  bitter  cup  might  pass  from  him  ; 
but  immediately  added,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  be  done." 
Nothing  like  this  could  be  expected  of  Socrates,  or  any 
heathen. 

Neither  Socrates  nor  Jesus  were  writers  :  and  there  seems 
to  be  more  of  dignity  in  their  characters  in  consequence  of  it, 
as  it    they  were  not  very  solicitous  about  transmitting  their 


56  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

names  to  posterity ;  confident  that,  as  far  as  it  was  an  object 
with  them,  it  would  be  sufficiently  done  by  others.  All  the 
accounts,  therefore,  that  we  have  of  them,  come  from  their 
disciples  and  friends.  And  there  is  a  remarkable  difference 
in  the  manner  in  which  the  life  of  Socrates  is  written  by 
Xenophon,  and  that  of  Jesus  by  the  Evangelists.  There 
cannot  be  a  doubt  but  that  the  Evangelists  had  a  much  higher 
opinion  of  their  Master  than  Xenophon  and  Plato  had  of 
theirs.  The  traces  of  this  are  numerous  and  indisputable. 
But  there  is  not  in  their  writings  any  direct  encomium  or 
praise  of  him,  as  there  is  in  the  Greek  writers  of  Socrates ; 
and  yet,  without  any  assistance  of  this  kind,  a  reader  of  moder- 
ate discernment  cannot  help  forming  a  much  higher  idea  of 
Jesus  than  he  does  of  Socrates,  from  xhQ  facts  recorded  of  him, 
and  the  discourses  ascribed  to  him. 


WILLIAM     NEWCOME. 

[Observations  on  our  Lord's  Conduct  as  a  Divine  Instructor.     First  Am.  ed., 
Charleston:  iSio.     Pp.  4S1-4S5.] 

When  our  Lord  is  considered  as  a  teacher,  we  find  him 
delivering  the  justest  and  most  sublime  truths  with  respect 
to  the  Divine  nature,  the  duties  of  mankind,  and  a  future 
state  of  existence  ;  agreeable  in  every  particular  to  reason, 
and  to  the  wisest  maxims  of  the  wisest  philosophers  ;  without 
any  mixture  of  that  alloy  which  so  often  debased  their  most 
perfect  productions  ;  and  excellently  adapted  to  mankind  in 
general,  by  suggesting  circumstances  and  images  on  the  most 
awful  and  interesting  subjects. 

We  find  him  filling,  and,  as  it  were,  overwhelming  our 
minds,  with  the  grandest  ideas  of  his  own  nature  ;  represent- 
ing himself  as  appointed  by  his  Father  to  be  our  Instructor, 
our  Redeemer,  our  Judge,  and  our  King ;  and  showing  that 
he  lived  and  died  for  the  most  benevolent  and  important 
purposes  conceivable. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  57 

He  does  not  labor  to  support  the  greatest  and  most 
magnificent  of  all  characters,  but  it  is  perfectly  easy  and 
natural  to  him.  He  makes  no  display  of  the  high  and 
heavenly  truths  which  he  utters,  but  speaks  of  them  with  a- 
graceful  and  wonderful  simplicit}^  and  majesty.  Supernatural 
truths  are  as  familiar  to  his  mind  as  the  common  affairs  of  life 
to  other  men. 

He  takes  human  nature  as  it  came  from  the  hand  of  its 
Creator,  and  does  not,  like  the  Stoics,  attempt  to  fashion  it 
anew,  except  as  far  as  man  had  corrupted  it.  He  revived  the 
moral  law,  carries  it  to  perfection,  and  enforces  it  by  peculiar 
and  animating  motives  ;  but  he  enjoins  nothing  new  besides 
praying  in  his  name,  and  observing  two  simple  and  significant 
positive  laws  which  serve  to  promote  the  practice  of  the 
moral  law.   .   .   . 

From  the  greatness  of  his  mind,  and  the  greatness  of  his 
subjects,  he  is  often  sublime  ;  and  the  beauties  interspersed 
throughout  his  discourses  are  equally  natural  and  striking. 
He  is  remarkable  for  an  easy  and  graceful  manner  of  intro- 
ducing the  best  lessons  from  incidental  objects  and  occasions. 
The  human  heart  is  naked  and  open  to  him,  and  he  addresses 
the  thoughts  of  men  as  others  do  the  emotions  of  their  counte- 
nance or  their  bodily  actions.  Difficult  situations,  and  studied 
questions  of  the  most  artful  and  ensnaring  kinds,  serve  only 
to  display  his  superior  wisdom,  and  to  confound  and  astonish 
all  his  adversaries.  Instead  of  showinof  his  boundless  knowl- 
^A^^  on  every  occasion,  he  checks  and  restrains  it,  and  prefers 
utility  to  the  glare  of  ostentation.  He  teaches  directly  and 
obliquely,  plainly  and  covertly,  as  wisdom  points  out  occa- 
sions. He  knows  the  inmost  character,  the  every  prejudice 
and  every  feeling,  of  his  hearers,  and,  accordingly,  uses  para- 
bles to  conceal  or  to  enforce  his  lessons ;  and  he  powerfully 
impresses  them  by  the  most  significant  language  of  actions. 
He  gives  proofs  of  his  mission  from  above,  by  his  knowledge 
of  the  heart,  by  a  chain  of  prophecies,  and  by  a  variety  of 
mighty  works. 


58  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

He  sets  an  example  of  the  most  perfect  piety  to  God.  and 
the  most  extensive  benevolence  and  the  most  tender  compas- 
sion to  man.  He  does  not  merely  exhibit  a  life  of  strict  jus- 
tice, but  of  overflowing  benignity.  His  temperance  has  not 
the  dark  shades  of  austerity  ;  his  meekness  does  not  degener- 
ate into  apathy.  His  humility  is  signal,  amidst  a  splendor  of 
qualities  more  than  human.  His  fortitude  is  eminent  and  ex- 
emplary, in  enduring  the  most  formidable  external  evils,  and 
the  sharpest  actual  suffering  ;  his  patience  is  invincible  ;  his 
resignation  entire  and  absolute.  Truth  and  sincerity  shine 
throughout  his  whole  conduct.  Though  of  heavenl)-  descent, 
he  shows  obedience  and  affection  to  his  earthly  parents.  He 
approves,  loves,  and  attaches  himself  to  amiable  qualities  in  the 
human  race.  He  respects  authority,  religious  and  civil ;  and 
he  evidences  his  regard  for  his  country  by  promoting  its  most 
essential  good  in  a  painful  ministry  dedicated  to  its  service, 
by  deploring  its  calamities,  and  by  laying  down  his  life  for 
its  benefit.  Every  one  of  his  eminent  virtues  is  regulated 
by  consummate  prudence ;  and  he  both  wins  the  love  of 
his  friends,  and  extorts  the  approbation  and  wonder  of  his 
enemies. 

Never  was  a  character  at  the  same  time  so  commanding 
and  so  natural,  so  resplendent  and  pleasing,  so  amiable  and 
venerable.  There  is  a  peculiar  contrast  in  it  between  an  awful 
greatness,  dignity,  and  majesty,  and  the  most  conciliating 
lowliness,  tenderness,  and  softness.  He  now  converses  with 
prophets,  lawgivers,  and  angels;  and  the  next  instant  he 
meekly  endures  the  dulness  of  his  disciples,  and  the  blasphe- 
mies and  rage  of  the  multitude. 

Let  us  pause  an  instant,  and  fill  our  minds  witli  the  idea 
of  One  who  knew  all  things  heavenly  and  earthly,  searched 
and  laid  open  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  heart,  rectified  every 
prejudice  and  removed  every  mistake  of  a  moral  and  religious 
kind,  by  a  word  exercised  sovereignty  over  all  nature,  pene- 
trated the  hidden  events  of  futurity,  gave  promises  of  admis- 
sion into  a  happy  immortality,  had   tin;  ke)s  of  life  antl  death, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  59 

claimed  a  union  with  the  Father,  and  yet  was  pious,  mild, 
gentle,  humble,  affable,  social,  benevolent,  friendly,  affection- 
ate. Such  a  character  is  fairer  than  the  morning  star.  Each 
separate  virtue  is  made  stronger  by  opposition  and  contrast ; 
and  the  union  of  so  many  virtues  forms  a  brightness  which 
fitly  represents  the  glory  of  that  God  "  who  inhabiteth  light 
inaccessible." 

Such  a  character  must  have  been  a  real  one.  There  is 
something  so  extraordinary,  so  perfect,  and  so  God-like  in  it, 
that  it  could  not  have  been  thus  supported  throughout  by  the 
utmost  stretch  of  human  genius,  much  less  by  men  confessedly 
unlearned  and  obscure. 


ROBERT   LEIGHTON. 

[Works.     London  :  1828.     Vol.  ii.  pp.  91,  92.] 

It  is  ignorance  of  Christ  that  maintains  the  credit  of  those 
vanities  we  admire.  The  Christian  that  is  truly  acquainted 
with  him,  enamoured  with  the  brightness  of  his  beauty,  can 
generously  trample  upon  the  smilings  of  the  world  with  the 
one  foot,  and  upon  her  frownings  with  the  other.  If  he  be 
rich  or  honorable,  or  both,  yet  he  glories  not  in  that;  but 
Christ,  who  is  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  is  even  then  his  chiefest 
glory,  and  the  light  of  Christ  obscures  that  worldly  splendor 
in  his  estimation. 

And  as  the  enjoyment  of  Christ  overtops  all  his  other 
joys,  so  it  overcomes  his  griefs.  As  that  great  light  drowns 
the  light  of  prosperity,  so  it  shines  bright  in  the  darkness  of 
affliction  :  no  dungeon  so  close  that  it  can  keep  out  the  rays 
of  Christ's  love  from  his  beloved  prisoners.  The  world  can 
no  more  take  away  this  light,  than  it  can  give  it.  And  as 
this  light  is  a  comfort,  so  it  is  likewise  a  defence,  which  sufters 
no  more  of  distress  to  come  near  the  godly  than  is  profitable 
for  them.   .  .  . 

You  who  know  Christ,  glory  in  him  perpetually.     There 


6o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

are  some  who  pretend  to  love  Christ,  and  yet  a  taunting 
word  of  some  profane  miscreant  will  almost  make  them 
ashamed  of  him.  How  would  they  die  for  Christ,  who  are 
so  tender  as  not  to  endure  a  scoff  for  him  ?  Where  is  that 
spirit  of  Moses,  who  accounted  the  very  reproaches  of  Christ 
greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt  ?  Oh,  learn  to  glory 
in  Christ ;  think  highly  of  him,  and  speak  so  too.  Methinks 
it  is  the  discourse  in  the  world  that  becomes  Christians  best, 
to  be  speaking  to  one  another  honorably  of  Jesus  Christ. 

And  of  all  men,  the  preachers  of  his  gospel  should  be  the 
most  frequent  in  this  subject.  This  should  be  their  great 
theme,  to  extol  and  commend  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  they  may 
inflame  many  hearts  with  his  love  ;  and  best  can  they  do  this, 
who  are  most  strongly  taken  with  this  love  themselves.  Such 
will  most  gladly  abase  themselves,  that  Christ  may  be  magni- 
fied ;  and  whatever  be  their  excellences,  they  will  still  account 
Christ  their  glory. 

This  would  seem  a  strange  word  if  it  were  not  the  apos- 
tle's :  "  They  are  the  messengers  of  the  churches,  and  the 
glory  of  Christ"  (2  Cor.  viii.  23).  Delight  who  will,  either 
in  sloth  or  ignorance  on  the  one  hand,  or  in  vain  speculations 
and  strains  of  frothy  wit  on  the  other ;  surely  those  preachers 
only  will  be  approved  in  the  great  day,  who  have  constantly 
endeavored,  in  their  measure,  to  speak  the  best  and  fittest 
they  could  for  their  Master's  advantage.  And  happy  those 
Christians,  of  what  estate  soever,  who  in  all  estates  make 
Christ  their  glory,  and  in  all  actions  have  their  eyes  fixed 
upon  his  glory,  who  is  their  light  and  the  glory  of  the  Lord, 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN. 

[Lkttkr  to  Pkesidknt  Stili:s  of  Yale  Colli:(;e.     March  9,  1790.] 

I  THINK  his  [Jesus  Christ's]  system  of  morals  and  religion, 
as  he  left  them  to  us,  the  best  the  world  ever  saw,  or  is  like 
to  see. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6 1 

WILLIAM    PALEY. 

[Works.     Boston:   1812.     Vol.  v.  pp.  460,  461.] 

Jesus  was  perfectly  sober  and  rational  in  his  devotions,  as 
witness  the  Lord's  Prayer  compared  with  any  of  the  composi- 
tions of  modern  enthusiasts.  His  admirable  discourses  before 
his  death  are  specimens  of  inimitable  tenderness  and  affection 
towards  his  followers.  His  quiet  submission  to  death,  though 
even  the  prospect  of  it  was  terrible  to  him,  exhibits  a  complete 
pattern  of  resignation  and  acquiescence  in  the  Divine  will. 
To  crown  all,  his  example  was  practicable,  and  suited  to  the 
conditions  of  human  life.  He  did  not,  like  Rousseau,  call 
upon  mankind  to  return  back  into  a  state  of  nature,  or  calcu- 
late his  precepts  for  such  a  state.  He  did  not,  with  the  monk 
and  hermit,  run  into  caves  and  cloisters,  or  suppose  that  men 
could  make  themselves  more  acceptable  to  God  by  keeping 
out  of  the  way  of  one  another.  He  did  not,  with  some  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  Stoics,  command  his  followers  to  throw 
their  wealth  into  the  sea,  nor,  with  the  Eastern  fakirs,  to  inflict 
upon  themselves  any  tedious,  gloomy  penances,  or  extrava- 
gant mortifications.  He  did  not,  what  is  the  sure  companion 
of  enthusiasm,  affect  singularity  in  his  behavior :  he  dressed, 
he  ate,  he  conversed,  like  other  people ;  he  accepted  their 
invitations;  he  was  a  guest  at  their  feasts,  frequented  their 
synagogues,  and  went  up  to  Jerusalem  at  their  great  festival. 

Upon  the  whole,  if  the  account  given  of  Christ  in 
Scripture  be  a  just  one,  if  there  really  was  such  a  person, 
how  could  he  be  an  impostor?  If  there  was  no  such  person, 
how  came  the  illiterate  Evangelists  to  hit  off  such  a  character, 
and  that  without  any  visible  design  of  drawing  any  character 
at  all  ? 

The  morality  of  the  gospel  is  not  beyond  what  might  be 
discovered  by  reason ;  nor  possibly  could  be :  because  all 
morality,  being  founded  in  relations  and  consequences  which 
we  are  acquainted  with,  and  experience,  must  depend  upon 


62  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

reasons  intelligible  to  our  apprehension  and  discoverable  by 
us.  Nor,  perhaps,  except  in  a  few  instances,  was  it  beyond 
what  might  have  been  collected  from  the  scattered  precepts 
of  different  philosophers.  Indeed,  to  have  put  together  all 
the  wise  and  good  precepts  of  all  the  different  philosophers, 
to  have  separated  and  laid  aside  all  the  error,  immorality,  and 
superstition  mixed  with  them,  would  have  proved  a  very 
difficult  work. 

But  that  a  single  person,  without  assistance  from  these 
philosophers,  or  any  human  learning  whatsoever,  in  direct 
opposition  also  to  the  established  practices  and  maxims  of  his 
own  country,  should  form  a  system  so  unblamable  on  the  one 
hand,  and  so  perfect  on  the  other,  is  extraordinary  beyond 
example  and  belief;  and  yet  this  must  be  believed  by  those 
who  hold  Christ  to  have  been  either  an  impostor  or  an 
enthusiast. 


JOHANN    GOTTLIEB   FICHTE. 

[The  Doctrine  of  Religion.     London:  1S73.    Pp.  483-486.] 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  undoubtedly  possessed  that  highest 
perception,  containing  the  foundation  of  all  other  truth,  of  the 
absolute  identity  of  humanity  with  the  Godhead,  as  regards 
what  is  essentially  real  in  the  former. 

Jesus  did  not  set  out  from  any  speculative  question  which 
could  be  solved  only  by  a  religious  knowledge  attained  at  a 
later  period,  and  only  in  the  course  of  investigation  of  the 
question  ;  for  he  explained  absolutely  nothing  by  his  religious 
principle,  and  deduced  nothing  from  it :  but  he  presented  it, 
alone  and  by  itself,  as  the  only  thing  worthy  of  knowledge, 
passing  by  every  thing  else  as  undeserving  of  notice.  His 
faith  and  his  conviction  never  allowed  the  question  to  arise  as 
to  the  existence  of  finite  things.  In  short,  they  had  no 
existence  for  him  :   only  in  union  with  God  was  reality. 

In  him  there  was  no  intellectual  questioning,  or  learning 
of   self   to    be  renounced  ;   for  in    this  knowledge    his  whole 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6'^^ 

Spiritual  self-knowledge  was  already  swallowed  up.  His  self- 
consciousness  was  at  once  the  pure  and  absolute  truth  of 
reason  itself,  self-existent  and  independent,  the  simple  fact 
of  consciousness ;  by  no  means,  as  with  us,  genetic,  arising 
from  another  preceding  state,  and  hence  no  simple  act  of 
consciousness,  but  an  inference. 

In  that  which  I  have  thus  endeavored  to  express  with  the 
utmost  precision  and  distinctness,  must  have  consisted  the 
peculiar  character  of  Jesus  Christ,  who,  like  every  other 
true  individuality,  can  have  appeared  but  once  in  time,  and 
can  never  be  repeated  therein.  He  was  the  Absolute  Reason 
clothed  in  immediate  self-consciousness  ;  or,  what  is  the  same 
thinor,  —  Religion. 


FRANCOIS  AUGUSTE  CHATEAUBRIAND. 

[The  Genius  of   Christianity.     Philadelphia:  1856.     P.  530.] 

Jesus  overthrows  the  prevalent  notions  of  morality,  insti- 
tutes new  relations  among  men,  a  new  law  of  nations,  a  new 
public  faith :  thus  does  he  establish  his  divinity,  triumph  over 
the  religion  of  the  Caesars,  seat  himself  on  the  throne,  and  at 
length  subdue  the  earth.  No  !  if  the  whole  earth  were  to 
raise  its  voice  against  Christianity,  if  all  the  powers  of  phi- 
losophy were  to  combine  against  its  doctrines,  never  shall  we 
be  persuaded  that  a  religion  erected  on  such  a  foundation  is 
a  religion  of  human  origin. 

The  bitterest  enemies  of  Jesus  Christ  never  dared  to  attack 
his  character.  Celsus,  Julian,  Volusian,  admit  his  miracles; 
and  Porphyry  relates  that  the  very  oracles  of  the  Pagans  styled 
him  a  man  illustrious  for  his  piety.  Tiberius  would  have 
placed  him  in  the  rank  of  the  gods ;  and,  according  to 
Lampridius,  Adrian  erected  temples  to  him,  and  Alexander 
Severus  venerated  him  among  holy  men,  and  placed  his  image 
between  those  of  Orpheus  and  Abraham.  Pliny  has  borne  an 
illustrious  testimony  to  the  innocence  of  the  primitive  Christ- 
ians, who  closely  followed  the  example  of  the  Redeemer. 


64  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

There  are  no  philosophers  of  antiquity  but  have  been 
reproved  for  vices ;  the  very  patriarchs  had  their  toibles. 
Christ  alone  is  without  blemish :  he  is  the  most  brilliant  copy 
of  that  supreme  beauty  which  is  seated  upon  the  throne  of 
heaven.  Pure  and  sanctified  as  the  tabernacle  of  the  Lord, 
breathing  naught  but  the  love  of  God  and  men,  infinitely 
superior  by  the  elevation  of  his  soul  to  the  vain  glory  of  the 
world,  he  prosecuted  amid  sufferings  of  every  kind  the  great 
business  of  our  salvation,  constraining  men  by  the  ascendency 
of  his  virtues  to  embrace  his  doctrine,  and  to  imitate  a  life 
which  they  were  compelled  to  admire. 


GEORG  WILHELM  FRIEDRICH  HEGEL. 

[The  Philosophy  of  History.     London  :  1878. ,  Pp.  337,  338.] 

We  do  not  adopt  the  right  point  of  view  in  thinking  of 
Christ  only  as  an  historical  bygone  personality.  .  .  .  Consid- 
ered only  in  respect  of  his  talents,  character,  and  morality, 
we  place  him  in  the  same  category  with  Socrates  and  others, 
though  his  morality  may  be  ranked  higher.  But  excellence 
of  character  and  morality  is  not  the  ne  plus  tiltra  in  the 
requirements  of  spirit ;  does  not  enable  to  gain  the  speculative 
idea  of  spirit  for  his  conceptive  faculty. 

If  Christ  is  to  be  looked  upon  only  as  an  excellent,  even 
impeccable  individual,  and  nothing  more,  the  conception  of 
the  speculative  idea,  of  Absolute  Truth,  is  ignored.  Make 
of  Christ  what  you  will  exegetically,  critically,  historically ; 
demonstrate  as  you  please,  how  the  doctrines  of  the  Church 
were  established  by  Councils,  attained  currency  as  the  result 
of  this  or  that  episcopal  interest,  or  passion,  were  originated 
in  this  or  that  quarter ;  let  all  such  circumstances  have  been 
what  they  might:  the  only  concerning  question  is.  What  is 
the  Idea,  or  the  Truth,  in  and  of  itself?  Further,  the  real 
attestation  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  is  the  witness  of  one's 
own  spirit,  not  miracles  ;   for  only  spirit  recognizes  Spirit. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  65 

FRANCOIS    P.    G.    GUIZOT. 

[Meditations  on  the  Essence  of  Christianity.     New  York :  1865.     P.  320  et  seq.'\ 

Take  these  two  grand  principles,  these  two  great  acts  of 
Jesus, —  the  aboHtion  of  every  privilege  in  the  relations  of  God 
and  man,  and  the  distinctions  between  man's  relieious  and  his 
civil  life.  I  contrast  with  these  two  principles  all  the  history 
and  every  state  of  society  previous  to  the  advent  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  I  am  unable  to  discover  in  those  essentially 
Christian  principles  any  kindred,  any  human  origin.  Every- 
where, before  Christ,  religions  were  national,  local  religions; 
they  were  religions  which  established  between  nations,  classes, 
and  individuals,  enormous  differences  and  inequalities. 

Everywhere  also,  before  Christ,  man's  civil  life  and  his 
religious  life  were  confounded,  and  mutually  oppressed  each 
other;  that  religion  or  those  religions  were  institutions  incor- 
porated in  the  state,  which  the  state  regulated  or  repressed  as 
its  interests  dictated.  But  in  this  catholicity  of  religious 
faith,  in  this  independence  of  religious  communities,  I  am 
constrained  to  recognize  new  and  sublime  principles,  and  to 
see  in  them  flashes  from  the  light  of  heaven.  It  needed 
many  centuries  before  mental  vision  was  capable  of  receiving 
that  light ;  and  no  one  shall  pronounce  how  many  centuries 
will  be  needed  before  it  will  pervade  and  penetrate  the  entire 
world.  But,  whatever  difficulties  and  shortcomings  may  be 
reserved  in  the  womb  of  the  future  for  the  two  great  truths 
to  which  I  have  just  referred,  it  is  clear  that  God  caused  them 
first  to  beam  forth  from  the  life  and  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  supernatural  being  and  power  of  Jesus  may  be  dis- 
puted ;  but  the  perfection,  the  sublimity,  of  his  acts  and  pre- 
cepts, of  his  life  and  his  moral  law,  are  incontestable.  And  in 
effect,  not  only  are  they  not  contested,  but  they  are  admired 
and  celebrated  enthusiastically,  and  complacently  too ;  it  would 
seem  as  if  it  were  desired  to  restore  to  Jesus  as  man,  and  man 
alone,  the  superiority  of  which  men  deprived  him  in  refusing 


66  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

to  see  in  him  the  Godhead.  But  then  what  incoherence, 
what  contradictions,  what  falsehood,  what  moral  impossibility, 
in  his  history,  such  as  they  make  it !  what  a  series  of  suppo- 
sitions, irreconcilable  with  fact,  nevertheless  admitted!  The 
man  they  make  so  perfect,  so  sublime,  becomes  by  turns  a 
dreamer  or  a  charlatan  ;  at  once  dupe  and  deceiver,  —  dupe 
of  his  own  mystical  enthusiasm  in  believing  in  his  own 
miracles ;  deceiver  in  tampering  with  evidence  in  order  to 
accredit  himself.  The  history  of  Jesus  Christ  is  thus  but  a 
tissue  of  fables  and  falsehood.  And  nevertheless  the  hero  of 
this  history  remains  perfect,  sublime,  incomparable;  the  great- 
est genius,  the  noblest  heart,  that  the  world  ever  saw  ;  the  type 
of  virtue  and  moral  beauty,  the  supreme  and  rightful  chief  of 
mankind.  What  a  contradictory  and  insoluble  problem  they 
present  to  us,  instead  of  the  one  they  labor  so  hard  to 
suppress ! 


EDMUND   LAW. 


[Reflections  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Christ.     Cambridge:  1765. 

PP.29S-301.] 

We  cannot  but  observe  a  surprising  mixture  of  humility 
and  greatness,  dignity  and  self-abasement,  in  the  general 
demeanor  of  Christ,  both  which  were  equally  instructive  in 
their  turns.  Sometimes  we  find  him  solemnly  asserting  his 
divinity  ;  at  other  times,  the  meekest  and  lowliest  of  men. 
Sometimes  reminding  his  followers  that  he  could  command 
legions  of  angels  if  it  were  necessary;  at  others,  apprising 
them  that  he  should  be  more  destitute  of  common  conven- 
iences than  even  the  beasts  of  the  field  or  the  birds  of  the 
air.  Now  tellinof  them  that  a  ofreater  than  Solomon  is  amonost 
them  ;  now  washing  his  disciples'  feet.  Conscious  of  his  own 
power  and  just  prerogative  ;  and  yet  all  submission  to  the 
powers  in  being,  complying  with  the  laws  and  institutions, 
however  hazardous  and  inconvenient  to  him,  aiul  paying  their 
demands  to  the  uttermost,  though  at  the  e.xpense  of  a  miracle. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  67 

On  some  occasions,  publishing  the  character  and  office 
that  he  bore  ;  on  others,  carefully  concealing  them,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  hasty  misconstruction  of  his  friends,  to  guard 
against  the  inveterate  malice  of  his  foes,  and  gain  sufficient 
time  to  fix  a  sure  foundation  for  the  faith  of  all.  None  more 
zealous  or  industrious  in  the  cause  of  God  than  he ;  none 
more  indifferent  and  resigned  in  his  own.  He  patiently 
endures  affronts  and  outrages  to  his  person,  and  the  frequent 
assaults  on  his  reputation  ;  yet  when  his  Father's  honor  is 
concerned,  he  vindicates  it  instantly,  and  with  uncommon 
warmth.  He  publicly  chastises  the  profaners  of  his  temple, 
and  threatens  the  severest  punishment  to  such  as  would 
continue  to  blaspheme  the  Power  and  Spirit  by  which  he 
was  actinor. 

He  is  read)-  to  receive  publicans  and  harlots  ;  disdains  not 
to  converse  with  heretics  and  schismatics,  with  persons  most 
odious  and  of  worst  repute,  but  whom  he  sees  to  be  truly 
penitent,  and  realh'  desirous  of  instruction  ;  while  he  rejects 
the  formal,  sanctimonious  hypocrite,  and  reprimands  the  self- 
sufficient  Pharisee.  He  detects,  and  with  authorit}'  rebukes, 
the  flattery  of  the  proud,  designing  querist ;  but  satisfies  each 
scruple,  and  resolves  each  doubt,  of  the  meek  and  humble 
searcher  after  truth,  even  before  they  can  be  intimated  to  him. 

He  cherishes  the  broken-hearted,  comforts  the  despond- 
ing, strengthens  and  supports  the  weak  and  wavering,  conde- 
scends to  the  infirmities  of  the  meanest  and  most  despicable 
that  has  the  least  spark  of  goodness  in  him  ;  but  never  grati- 
fies the  vanity,  or  gives  wa)'  to  the  petulancy,  of  the  greatest. 
.  .  .  Vice  from  him  meets  with  due  discouragement  and  just 
reproof  in  all  men,  even  those  of  the  highest  station.  Virtue 
he  meets  with  a  kind  compassion  and  a  generous  aid  in  any 
of  the  lowest.  He  condescended  to  the  meanest  company, 
when  he  had  a  prospect  of  doing  any  good  upon  them  ;  and 
was  content  to  lose  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  man,  that 
he  might  more  effectually  serve  the  ends  of  piety  and 
goodness. 


68  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

ISAAC    BARROW. 

[Theological  Works.     Cambridge:  1859.     Vol.  ii.  pp.  527-541.] 

By  pretending  to  be  Christians,  we  acknowledge  the  tran- 
scendent goodness,  worth,  and  excellency  of  our  Saviour  ;  that 
he  was  incomparably  better  and  wiser  than  any  person  ever 
was  or  could  be  ;  that  he  always  acted  with  the  highest  reason, 
out  of  the  most  excellent  disposition  of  mind,  in  order  to  the 
best  purposes ;  and  that  his  practice  therefore  reasonably 
should  be  the  rule  and  pattern  of  ours.  For,  the  best  and 
exactest  in  every  kind  is  the  measure  of  the  rest.  All  that 
would  attain  exquisite  skill  in  any  art  or  faculty,  think  best  to 
imitate  the  works  of  the  best  masters  therein :  a  painter, 
to  draw  after  the  pieces  of  Zeuxis  or  Apelles,  of  Raphael  or 
Titian  ;  an  orator,  to  speak  in  the  style  of  Cicero  or  Demos- 
thenes ;  a  soldier,  to  emulate  the  military  achievements  of 
Hannibal  or  Caesar.  In  like  manner  reason  requireth,  if  we 
would  live  well  and  happily,  that  we  should  endeavor  to 
conform  our  practice  to  that  of  our  Saviour,  the  most  perfect 
mirror  of  all  virtue  and  goodness. 

The  practice  of  our  Saviour  did  thoroughly  agree  with  his 
doctrine  and  law.  He  required  nothing  of  us  which  he  did 
not  eminently  perform  himself;  he  fulfilled  in  deed,  as  well 
as  taught  in  word,  all  righteousness. 

The  example  of  Christ  doth,  in  efficacy  and  influence  upon 
good  practice,  surpass  all  others.  It  is  a  sure  and  infallible 
rule,  an  entire  and  perfect  rule  of  practice  ;  deficient  in  no 
part,  swerving  in  no  circumstance  from  truth  and  right,  which 
privileges  are  competent  to  no  other  example. 

A  clear  evidence  of  divine  light  always  shining  in  his  soul 
directed  him  infallibly  in  the  paths  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
No  tempest  of  cross  accidents  without,  nor  any  estuations  of 
internal  passion,  could  discompose  the  steady  calm  and 
serenity  of  his  mind.  No  allurement  of  worldly  pleasure, 
nor  temptation  of  profit,  could  [pervert  his  practice,  or  seduce 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  69 

his  heart,  being  inflamed  with  most  intense  love  of  God,  and 
entire  charity  to  men  ;  so  that  his  example  must  needs  be  a 
perfect  rule  and  sure  direction  to  us.  Which  consideration 
cannot  but  yield  great  encouragement  and  comfort  in  follow- 
ing him,  freeing  us  from  all  anxious  doubts  and  suspicions  of 
mistake  in  our  spiritual  progress  ;  like  the  presence  of  a  sure 
guide  to  the  bewildered  traveller ;  like  the  appearance  of  a 
star  to  the  weather-beaten  mariner;  like  that  miraculous  pillar 
of  fire,  which  safely  conducted  the  wandering  Israelites 
through  the  unknown  and  unfrequented  passages  of  a  wild 
desert. 

Our  Saviour,  like  the  sun,  was  ordained  with  a  perpetual 
and  unconfined  splendor  to  illuminate  the  universe,  to  cause 
a  general  and  everlasting  day  of  healthful  and  comfortable 
knowledge  over  the  face  of  the  whole  earth.  He  was  or- 
dained, not  commander  of  a  single  regiment  or  party,  but 
captain-general  of  mankind,  to  conduct  all  those  who  were 
disposed  to  follow  him,  by  a  victorious  obedience,  into  that 
triumphant  state  of  everlasting  joy  and  happiness. 

So  it  was,  and  so  it  became  the  infinite  goodness  and 
philanthropy  of  God,  to  bestow  upon  mankind  one  perfectly 
good  example,  inviting  to  all  virtue,  and  so  fit  to  countervail 
all  those  many  bad  ones  wherewith  we  converse,  enticing  to 
vice  ;  to  set  forth,  among  so  many  imperfect  ones,  one  accom- 
plished piece  of  his  heavenly  workmanship,  able  to  attract  the 
eyes  and  ravish  the  hearts  of  all  men  with  admiration  oi  its 
excellent  worth  and  beauty  ;  to  offer  to  our  view  some  dis- 
cernible representation  of  his  invisible  perfections,  that  so 
we  might  better  be  induced  and  inured  to  apprehend,  love, 
reverence,  and  imitate  himself  by  contemplation  of  that  most 
exquisite  image  of  him  ;  to  give  an  evident  proof  that  the 
highest  virtue  is  not  impracticable,  that  human  nature,  by  aid 
and  guidance  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  may  arrive  to  the  sublime 
pitch  of  perfection  and  goodness  :  in  fine,  to  expose  such  a 
common,  sweet,  and  lovely  pattern,  as  we  with  assurance,  joy, 
and  comfort,  may  follow. 


70  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Our  Saviour's  example  is  especially  influential  upon  prac- 
tice, in  that  it  was  by  an  admirable  temperament  more  accom- 
modated for  imitation  than  any  others  have  been  ;  that  the 
perfect  copy  of  his  most  holy  life  seems  more  easy  to  be 
transcribed  than  the  ruder  draughts  of  other  holy  men.  For 
thouo-h  it  were  written  with  an  incomparable  fairness,  delicacy, 
and  evenness,  not  slurred  with  any  foul  blot,  not  anywhere 
declining  from  exact  straightness,  yet  with  the  lineaments 
thereof  exceedingly  plain  and  simple  ;  not  by  any  gaudy 
flourishes  or  impertinent  intrigues  rendered  difficult  to  studious 
imitation  ;  so  that  even  women  and  children,  the  weakest  and 
meanest  sort  of  people,  as  well  as  the  most  wise  and  ingenious, 
might  easily  perceive  its  design,  and  with  good  success  write 
after  it. 

His  was  a  gentle  and  steady  light,  bright  indeed,  but  not 
dazzling  the  eye  ;  warm,  but  not  scorching  the  face  of  the 
most  intent  beholder.  No  affected  singularities,  no  super- 
cilious morosities,  no  frivolous  ostentations  of  seemingly  high 
but  really  fruitless  performances.  Nothing  that  might  deter  a 
timorous,  discourage  a  weak,  or  ofi^end  a  scrupulous  disciple, 
is  observable  in  his  practice  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  his  conver- 
sation was  full  of  lowliness  and  condescension,  of  meekness 
and  sweetness,  of  openness  and  candid  simplicity ;  apt  to 
invite  and  allure  all  men  to  approach  toward  it,  and  with 
satisfaction  to  enjoy  it. 

He  did  not  seclude  himself  into  the  constant  retirements 
of  a  cloister,  nor  into  the  farther  recesses  of  a  wilderness,  but 
conversed  freely  and  indifferently  with  all  sorts  of  men,  even 
the  most  contemptible  and  odious  sort  of  men,  pul^licans  and 
sinners;  like  the  sun,  with  an  impartial  bounty.  lil-)erally  im- 
parting his  pleasant  light  and  comfortable  warmth  to  all.  He 
used  no  uncouth  austerities  in  habit  or  diet,  but  complied  in 
his  garb  with  ordinary  usage,  and  sustained  his  life  with  such 
food  as  casual  opportunity  did  offer  ;  so  that  his  indiflerency 
in  that  kind  yielded  matter  of  obloqu)'  against  him.  from 
the  fond  admirers  of  a  humorous  preciseness.      His  devotions 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  7 1 

were  not  usually  extended  to  a  tedious  and  exhausting 
durance,  nor  strained  into  ecstatical  transports,  charming  the 
natural  senses,  and  overpowering  the  reason  ;  but  calm,  steady, 
and  regular,  such  as  persons  of  honest  intention  and  hearty 
desire  might  readily  imitate. 

His  zeal  was  not  violent  or  impetuous,  except  upon  very 
great  reason  and  extraordinary  occasion,  when  the  honor  of 
God  or  good  of  men  was  much  concerned.  He  was  not 
rigorous  in  the  observance  of  traditional  rights  and  customs, 
yet  behaved  himself  orderly  and  peaceably,  giving  due  respect 
to  the  least  institution  of  God,  and  complying  with  the  inno- 
cent customs  of  men  ;  thereby  pointing  out  to  us  the  middle 
way  between  peevish  superstition  and  boisterous  faction, 
which,  as  always  the  most  honest,  so  commonly  is  the  most 
safe  and  pleasant  way  to  walk  in.  He  delighted  not  to  dis- 
course of  sublime  mysteries,  nor  of  subtle  speculations  and 
intricate  questions,  such  as  might  amuse  and  perplex  rather 
than  instruct  and  profit  his  auditors  ;  but  usually  did  feed  his 
auditors  with  the  most  common  and  useful  truths,  and  that  in 
the  most  familiar  and  intellio-ible  lanofuaofe,  not  disdain ine  the 
use  of  vulgar  sayings  and  trivial  proverbs  when  they  best 
served  to  insinuate  his  wholesome  meaning  into  their  minds. 

His  whole  life  was  spent  in  exercise  of  the  most  easy  and 
pleasant,  yet  most  necessary  and  substantial,  duties.  —  obedi- 
ence to  God,  charity,  meekness,  patience,  and  the  like  :  the 
which  that  he  might  practise  with  the  greatest  latitude,  and 
with  most  advantao-e  for  o-eneral  imitation,  he  did  not  addict 
himself  to  any  particular  way  of  life,  but  disentangled  himself 
from  all  worldly  care  and  business,  choosing  to  appear  in  the 
most  free  though  very  mean  condition,  that  he  might  indiffer- 
ently instruct,  by  his  example,  persons  of  all  callings,  degrees, 
and  capacities,  especially  the  most,  that  is,  the  poor,  and 
might  have  opportunity  in  the  face  of  the  world  to  practise 
the  most  difficult  of  necessary  duties,  —  lowliness,  contented- 
ness,  abstinence  from  pleasure,  contempt  of  the  world,  suffer- 
ance of  injuries  and  reproaches. 


72  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Thus  suited  and  tempered  by  divine  wisdom  was  the  Hfe 
of  our  blessed  Saviour,  that  all  sorts  ot  men  might  be  in  an 
equal  capacity  to  follow  him  ;  that  none  might  be  offended, 
affrighted,  or  discouraged ;  but  that  all  might  be  pleased, 
delighted,  enamoured,  with  the  homely  majesty  and  plain 
beauty  thereof.  And  in  effect  so  it  happened,  that  ordinary 
people  were  greatly  taken  with,  most  admired  and  applauded, 
his  deportment,  many  of  them  readily  embracing  his  doctrine, 
and  devoting  themselves  to  his  discipline ;  while  only  the 
proud,  envious,  covetous,  and  ambitious  scribes  and  lawyers 
rejected  his  excellent  doctrine,  scorned  the  heavenly  simplicity 
and  holy  integrity  of  his  life. 


WILLIAM    LAW. 

[Christian  Perfection.     London:  1762.     Pp.  2S5-297.] 

When  it  is  said  that  we  are  to  imitate  the  life  of  Christ,  it 
is  not  meant  that  we  are  called  to  the  same  manner  of  life  or 
the  same  sort  of  actions,  for  this  cannot  be  ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  we  are  called  to  the  same  spirit  and  temper  which  was 
the  spirit  and  temper  of  our  blessed  Saviour's  life  and  actions. 

We  are  to  be  like  him  in  heart  and  mind,  to  act  b)'  the 
same  rule,  to  look  towards  the  same  end,  and  to  govern  our 
lives  by  the  same  spirit.  This  is  an  imitation  of  Jesus  Christ 
which  is  as  necessary  to  salvation  as  it  is  necessary  to  believe 
in  his  name.  This  is  the  sole  end  of  all  the  counsels,  com- 
mands, and  doctrines  of  Christ, — to  make  us  like  himself,  to 
fill  us  with  his  spirit  and  temper,  and  to  make  us  live  according 
to  the  rule  and  manner  of  his  life.  As  no  doctrines  arc  true 
but  such  as  are  according  to  the  doctrines  ot  Christ,  so  it  is 
equally  certain  that  no  life  is  regular  or  Christian  but  such  as 
is  according  to  the  pattern  and  example  of  the  life  of  Christ  ; 
for  he  lived  as  infallibly  as  he  taught.  And  it  is  as  irregular 
to  vary  from  his  example,  as  it  is  false  to  dissent  from  his  doc- 
trines.     "  1  am,"  saith  the  blessed  Jesus,  "  the  way,  the  truth. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  JT, 

and  the  life  ;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  1))'  me." 
Christians  often  hear  these  words,  and  perhaps  think  that 
they  have  enough  fulfilled  them  by  believing  in  Jesus  Christ. 
But  they  should  consider  that  when  Jesus  Christ  saith  he  is 
the  Way,  his  meaning  is,  that  his  way  of  life  is  to  be  the  way 
in  which  all  Christians  are  to  live  ;  and  that  it  is  by  living 
after  the  manner  of  his  life  that  any  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father. 

We  may  as  well  expect  to  go  to  a  heaven  where  Christ  is 
not,  as  to  go  to  that  where  he  is,  without  the  spirit  and  temper 
which  carried  him  thither.  Who  can  find  the  least  shadow  of 
a  reason  why  he  should  not  imitate  the  life  of  Christ,  or  why 
Christians  should  think  of  any  other  rule  of  life  ?  It  would 
be  as  easy  to  show  that  Christ  acted  amiss,  as  that  we  need 
not  act  after  his  example.  And  to  think  that  there  are 
degrees  of  holiness,  which,  though  very  good  in  themselves, 
are  yet  not  necessary  for  us  to  aspire  after,  is  the  same 
absurdity  as  to  think  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  our  Saviour 
to  have  been  so  perfect  himself  as  he  was.  For,  give  but  the 
reason  why  such  degrees  of  holiness  and  purity  became  our 
Saviour,  and  you  will  give  as  good  a  reason  for  us  to  aspire 
after  them.  For,  as  the  blessed  Jesus  took  not  on  him  the 
nature  of  angels,  but  the  nature  of  man  ;  as  he  was  in  all 
points  made  like  unto  us,  sin  only  excepted:  so  we  are  sure 
that  there  was  no  spirit  or  temper  that  was  excellent  in  him, 
that  recommended  him  to  God,  but  would  be  also  excellent 
in  us,  and  recommend  us  to  God,  if  we  could  arrive  at  it.   .   .   . 

There  is  no  falseness  of  our  hearts  that  leads  us  into 
greater  errors,  than  imagining  that  we  shall  some  time  or 
other  be  better  than  we  are,  or  need  be  now :  for  perfection 
has  no  dependence  upon  external  circumstances  ;  it  wants  no 
times  or  opportunities  ;  but  is  then  in  its  highest  state,  when 
we  are  making  the  best  use  of  that  condition  in  which  we  are 
placed.  The  poor  widow  did  not  stay  till  she  was  rich,  before 
she  contributed  to  the  treasury :  she  readily  brought  her  mite, 
and,  little  as  it  was,  it  got  her  the  reward  and  commendation 


74  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

of  orreat  charity.  We  must,  therefore,  all  of  us  imitate  the 
wisdom  of  the  poor  widow,  and  exercise  every  virtue  in  the 
same  manner  that  she  exercised  her  charity.  We  must  stay 
for  no  time  or  opportunities,  wait  for  no  change  of  life  or 
fancied  abilities,  but  remember  that  every  time  is  a  time  for 
piety  and  perfection.  Every  thing  but  piety  has  its  hin- 
derances  ;  but  piety,  the  more  it  is  hindered,  the  higher  it  is 
raised.  Let  us  therefore  not  vainly  say  that  if  we  had  lived 
in  our  Saviour's  days,  we  would  have  followed  him  ;  or  that 
if  we  could  work  miracles,  we  would  devote  ourselves  to  his 
glory.  For,  to  follow  Christ  as  far  as  we  can  in  our  present 
state,  and  to  do  all  that  we  are  able  for  his  glory,  is  as  accept- 
able to  him,  as  if  we  were  working  miracles  in  his  name. 

The  Qfreatness  that  we  are  to  aim  at  is  not  the  orreatness 
of  our  Saviour's  particular  actions ;  but  it  is  the  greatness  of 
his  spirit  and  temper,  that  we  are  to  act  by  in  all  parts  of  our 
life.  Now,  every  state  of  life,  whether  public  or  private, 
whether  bond  or  free,  whether  high  or  low,  is  capable  of  being 
conducted  and  governed  by  the  same  spirit  and  temper ;  and 
consequently  every  state  of  life  may  carry  us  to  the  same 
degree  of  likeness  to  Christ.  So  that,  though  we  can  in  no 
respect  come  up  to  the  actions,  yet  we  must  in  every  respect 
act  by  the  spirit  and  temper,  of  Christ.  "  Learn  of  me,"  saith 
our  blessed  Lord,  "  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  of  heart."  He 
doth  not  say.  Be  ye  in  the  state  and  condition  that  1  am  in  ; 
for  that  was  impossible  :  yet,  though  ever  so  different  in  state 
and  condition,  he  calls  upon  us  to  be  like  him  in  meekness 
and  lowliness  of  heart  and  spirit,  and  makes  it  necessary  for 
us  to  go  through  our  particular  state  with  that  spirit  and 
temper  which  was  the  spirit  and  temper  of  his  whole  life.  So 
far,  therefore,  as  we  can  learn  the  heart  and  spirit  of  our 
Saviour;  so  far  as  we  can  discover  the  wisdom,  purity,  and 
heavenliness  of  his  designs, —  so  far  we  have  learned  what 
spirit  and  temper  we  ought  to  be  of;  and  must  no  more  think 
ourselves  at  lilxM-ty  to  act  by  any  other  spirit,  than  we  are  at 
liberty  to  choose  another  Saviour. 


i 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  75 

In  all  our  ways  and  actions  of  life,  \vc  must  appeal  to  this 
rule  ;  we  must  reckon  ourselves  no  farther  living  like  Chris- 
tians than  as  we  live  like  Christ,  and  be  assured,  that,  so  far 
as  we  depart  from  the  spirit  of  Christ,  so  far  do  we  depart 
from  that  state  to  which  he  has  called  us.  For  the  blessed 
Jesus  has  called  us  to  live  as  he  did,  to  walk  in  the  same  spirit 
that  he  walked,  that  we  may  be  in  the  same  happiness  with 
him  when  this  life  is  at  an  end.  And,  indeed,  who  can  think 
that  any  thing  but  the  same  life  can  lead  to  the  same  state  ? 


JOHN    LOCKE. 

[Works.     London:   1751.     Vol.  ii.  p.  582.] 

Before  our  Saviour's  time,  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state, 
though  it  were  not  wholly  hid,  yet  it  was  not  clearly  known 
in  the  world.  It  was  an  imperfect  view  of  reason,  or  perhaps 
the  decayed  remains  of  an  ancient  tradition,  which  rather 
seemed  to  float  on  men's  fancies,  than  sink  deep  into  their 
hearts.  It  was  something,  they  knew  not  what,  between  being 
and  not  being.  Something  in  man,  they  imagined,  might 
escape  the  grave ;  but  of  a  perfect  and  complete  life,  of  an 
eternal  duration,  after  this,  was  what  entered  little  into  their 
thoughts,  and  less  into  their  persuasions.  And  they  were  so 
far  from  being  clear  therein,  that  we  see  no  nation  of  the  world 
publicly  proclaiming  it,  and  built  upon  it.  No  religion  taught 
it ;  and  it  was  nowhere  made  an  article  of  faith,  and  principle 
of  religion,  till  Jesus  came,  of  whom  it  is  truly  said,  that  he, 
at  his  appearing,  "  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light." 
And  that  not  only  in  the  clear  revelation  of  it,  and  in  instances 
shown  of  men  raised  from  the  dead  ;  but  he  has  eiven  an 
unquestionable  assurance  and  pledge  of  it,  in  his  own 
resurrection  and  ascension  into  heaven. 

How  hath  this  one  truth  changed  the  nature  of  things  in 
the  world,  and  given  the  advantage  to  piety  over  all  that  could 
tempt  or  deter  men  from  it  ?     The  philosophers,  indeed,  show 


^d  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

the  beauty  of  Virtue  ;  they  set  her  off  so,  as  drew  men's  eyes 
and  approbation  to  her  :  but  leaving  her  unendowed,  very  few 
are  wilHng  to  espouse  her.  But  now  there  being  put  into  the 
scales  on  her  side  "  an  exceeding  and  immortal  weight  of 
glory,"  interest  is  come  about  her ;  and  Virtue  is  now  visibly 
the  most  enriching  purchase  and  by  much  the  best  bargain. 
That  she  is  the  perfection  and  excellency  of  our  nature,  that 
she  is  herself  a  reward,  and  will  recommend  our  names  to 
future  ages,  is  not  now  all  that  can  be  said  of  her.  It  is  not 
strange  that  the  learned  heathens  satisfied  not  many  with  such 
airy  commendation.  It  has  another  relish  and  efficiency  to 
persuade  men  that  if  they  live  well  here,  the)'  shall  be  happy 
hereafter.  Open  their  eyes  upon  the  endless  and  unspeakable 
joys  of  another  life,  and  their  hearts  will  find  something- 
powerful  to  move  them. 

Upon  this  foundation,  and  upon  this  only,  morality  stands 
firm,  and  may  defy  all  competition.  That  makes  it  more  than 
a  name,  —  a  substantial  good,  worth  all  our  aims  and  endeav- 
ors ;  and  this  is  the  gospel  Jesus  Christ  has  delivered  to  us. 


LEOPOLD    RANKE. 

[History  of  the  Popes.     London  :  1870.     \'ol.  i.  pp.  2,  3.] 

How  obscure  and  unpretending  was  the  life  of  Jesus 
Christ !  His  occupation  was  to  heal  the  sick,  and  to  discourse 
of  God  in  parables  with  a  few  fishermen  who  did  not  alwa)-s 
V  understand  his  words.  He  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head. 
Yet,  even  from  the  worldly  point  of  view  whence  we  consider 
it,  we  may  safely  assert  that  nothing  more  guileless  or  more 
impressive,  more  exalted  or  more  hoi)-,  has  been  seen  on 
earth  than  were  his  life,  his  whole  conversation,  and  his  death. 
In  his  every  word  there  breathed  the  pure  Spirit  of  God. 
They  are  words,  as  St.  Peter  has  expressed  it,  of  eternal 
life.  The  records  of  humanity  present  nothing  that  can  be 
compared,  however  n-niotel)-,  with  the  life  of  Jesus. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  J  J 

HENRY    SCOUGAL. 

[The  Life  of  God  in  the  Soul  of  Man.     Boston:  1829.     Pp.  24-27.] 

The  power  and  life  of  religion  may  be  better  expressed  in 
actions  than  in  words ;  because  actions  are  more  truly  things, 
and  do  better  represent  the  inward  principle  whence  they 
proceed.  And  therefore  we  may  take  the  best  measure  of 
those  gracious  endowments  from  the  deportment  of  those  in 
whom  they  reside  ;  especially  as  they  are  perfectly  exemplified 
in  the  holy  life  of  our  blessed  Saviour,  a  main  part  of  whose 
business  in  this  world  was,  to  teach  by  his  practice  what  he 
did  require  of  others,  and  to  make  his  own  conversation 
an  exact  resemblance  of  those  unparalleled  rules  which  he 
prescribed.  So  that,  if  ever  true  goodness  was  visible  to 
mortal  eyes,  it  was  when  his  presence  did  beautify  and 
illustrate  this  lower  world.   .  .   . 

An  instance  of  his  love  to  God  was  his  delight  in  convers- 
ing with  him  in  prayer,  which  made  him  frequently  retii'e 
from  the  world,  and  with  the  greatest  devotion  and  pleasure 
spend  whole  nights  in  the  heavenly  exercise,  though  he  had 
no  sins  to  confess,  and  but  few  secular  interests  to  pray  for ; 
which,  alas !  are  almost  the  only  things  that  are  wont  to  drive 
us  to  our  devotions. 

Nay,  we  may  say  his  whole  life  was  a  kind  of  prayer,  a 
constant  course  of  communion  with  God.  If  the  sacrifice  was 
not  always  offering,  yet  was  the  fire  still  kept  alive  ;  nor  was 
ever  the  blessed  Jesus  surprised  with  that  dulness  or  tepidity 
of  spirit,  wiiich  we  must  many  times  wrestle  with  before  we 
can  be  fit  for  the  exercise  of  devotion. 

In  the  second  place,  I  would  speak  of  his  love  and  charity 
towards  all  men.  But  he  who  would  express  it  must  tran- 
scribe the  history  of  the  gospel,  and  comment  upon  it  ;  for 
scarce  any  thing  is  recorded  to  have  been  done  or  spoken 
by  him,  which  was  not  designed  for  the  good  and  advantage 
of  some  one  or  another. 


78  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

All  of  his  miraculous  works  were  instances  of  his  good- 
ness, as  well  as  his  power ;  and  they  benefited  those  on  whom 
they  were  wrought,  as  well  as  they  awed  the  beholders.  His 
charity  was  not  confined  to  his  kindred  or  his  relatives  ;  nor 
was  his  kindness  swallowed  up  in  the  endearments  of  that 
peculiar  friendship  which  he  carried  towards  the  beloved 
disciple,  but  every  one  was  his  friend  who  obeyed  his  holy 
command. 

And  what  shall  I  say  of  his  meekness,  who  could  en- 
counter the  monstrous  ingratitude  and  dissimulation  of  that 
miscreant  who  betrayed  him,  in  no  harsher  terms  than  these : 
"Judas,  betrayest  thou  the  Son  of  man  with  a  kiss?"  What 
further  evidence  could  we  desire  of  his  fervent  and  unbounded 
charity,  than  that  he  willingly  laid  down  his  life  even  for  his 
most  bitter  enemies,  and,  mingling  his  prayers  with  his  blood, 
besouofht  the  Father  that  his  death  mioht  not  be  laid  to  their 
charofe,  but  might  become  the  means  of  eternal  life  to  those 
very  persons  who  procured  it  ? 


JONATHAN    EDWARDS. 

[Works.     New  York:   1851.     Vol.  iv.  pp.  197,  198.] 

In  Christ,  infinite  greatness  and  infinite  goodness  meet 
together,  and  receive  lustre  and  glory  one  from  another.  His 
greatness  is  rendered  lovely  by  his  goodness.  The  greater 
one  is  without  goodness,  so  much  the  greater  evil ;  but  when 
infinite  goodness  is  joined  with  greatness,  it  renders  it  a 
glorious  and  adorable  greatness. 

As  both  divine  and  human  excellences  meet  together  in 
Christ,  they  set  off  and  recommend  each  other  to  us.  It  is 
what  tends  to  endear  the  divine  and  infinite  majesty  antl 
holiness  of  Christ  to  us.  that  these  are  attributes  of  a  person 
that  is  in  our  nature,  that  is  one  of  us,  that  is  become  our 
Brother,  and  is  the  meekest  antl  humblest  of  men. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  79 

JAMES    BURGH. 

[The  Dignity  ok  Human  Nature.     New  York :  1812.     Pp.  506,507.] 

There  is,  indeed,  no  argument  for  the  truth  of  Christianity 
more  irresistible  than  the  character  and  conduct  of  its  first 
propagators,  and  especially  of  its  glorious  Author.  No  human 
sagacity  could,  from  mere  inventions,  have  put  together  a 
fictitious  account  of  the  behavior  of  a  person  in  so  many 
strange  and  uncommon  particulars  as  the  Evangelists  have 
told  us  of  our  Saviour,  without  either  swelling  up  the  imagin- 
ary character  into  that  of  a  hero  of  a  romance,  or  drawing  it 
defaced  with  faults  and  blemishes.  That  human  invention 
is  by  no  means  equal  to  any  such  task,  is  evident  from  the 
success  of  the  attempts  which  have  been  made  by  the  greatest 
masters  of  description  to  draw  perfect  characters,  especially 
where  any  thing  supernatural  was  to  have  a  place.  And  that 
such  a  character  as  that  of  our  Saviour  should  be  drawn  so 
uniform  and  consistent,  at  the  same  time  that  it  is  so  wholly 
new  and  peculiar  that  in  all  the  histories  and  all  the  epic 
poems  in  the  world  there  is  no  pattern  from  whence  the  least 
hint  could  be  taken  to  form  it  by ;  that  this  character,  in  which 
the  greatness  is  of  so  extraordinary  and  stupendous  a  kind, 
that  whatever  is  great  in  those  of  warriors,  or  heroes,  or  kings, 
is  despised  or  neglected  by  him,  and  infinitely  beneath  him  ; 
that  such  a  character  should  be  the  invention  of  a  few  illiterate 
men,  and  that  it  should  by  them  be  exhibited,  not  by  studied 
encomiums,  but  by  a  bare  unadorned  narration  of  facts,  but 
such  facts  as  are  nowhere  else  to  be  equalled,  —  he  who  can 
believe  that  all  this  could  be  the  effect  of  mere  human 
invention,  without  superior  interposition,  miist  be  capable  of 
believing  any  thing.  So  that  I  may  defy  all  the  opposers  of 
revelation  to  answer  this  question  :  How  came  we  to  have 
such  a  character  as  that  of  Christ,  drawn  as  it  is,  and  drawn 
by  such  authors,  if  it  was  not  taken  from  a  real  original,  and 
if  that  original  was  not  something  above  human  ? 


8o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

DAVID    HARTLEY. 

[The  Truth  of  the  Christiax  Religion.     Boston:  1808.     Pp.  130-134.] 

Tpie  character  of  Christ,  as  it  may  be  collected  from  the 
plain  narratives  of  the  Gospels,  is  manifestly  superior  to  all 
other  characters,  fictitious  or  real,  whether  drawn  by  historians, 
orators,  or  poets.  We  see  in  it  the  most  entire  devotion  and 
resignation  to  God,  and  the  most  ardent  and  universal  love  to 
mankind,  joined  with  the  greatest  humility,  self-denial,  meek- 
ness, patience,  prudence,  and  every  other  virtue,  divine  and 
human. 

If  we  allow  only  the  truth  of  the  common  history  of  the 
New  Testament,  or  even,  without  having  recourse  to  it,  only 
such  a  part  of  the  character  of  Christ  as  neither  ancient  nor 
modern,  Jews,  heathens  or  unbelievers,  seem  to  contest,  it  will 
be  difficult  to  reconcile  so  great  a  character,  claiming  divine 
authority,  either  with  the  moral  attributes  of  God,  or  indeed 
with  itself,  upon  the  supposition  of  the  falsehood  of  that 
claim.  One  can  scarce  suppose  that  God  will  permit  a  person 
apparently  so  innocent  and  excellent,  so  qualified  to  impose 
upon  mankind,  to  make  so  impious  and  audacious  a  claim 
without  having  some  evident  mark  of  imposture  set  upon  him  ; 
nor  can  it  be  conceived  how  a  person  could  be  apparently  so 
innocent  and  excellent,  and  yet  really  otherwise. 

The  manner  in  which  the  Evangelists  speak  of  Christ 
shows  that  they  drew  after  a  real  copy ;  that  is,  shows  the 
genuineness  and  truth  of  the  gospel  history-.  There  arc  no 
direct  encomiums  upon  him,  no  labored  defences  or  recom- 
mendations. His  character  arises  from  a  careful,  imi)artial 
examination  of  all  that  he  saitl  and  did;  and  the  Evangelists 
appear  to  have  drawn  this  greatest  of  all  characters  without 
any  direct  design  to  do  it.  Nay,  they  have  recorded  some 
things,  .such  as  his  being  moved  with  the  passions  of  human 
nature,  as  well  as  beting  affected  by  its  infirmities,  which  the 
wisdom  of  this  workl  would  rather  have  concealed.      But  their 


4 


:5i;    VZN    WOSSHIF    ,HZ    :Hli-D  JE^.US. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  8 1 

view  was  to  show  him  to  the  persons  to  whom  they  preached, 
as  the  promised  Messiah  of  the  Jews,  and  Saviour  of  mankind  ; 
and  as  they  had  been  convinced  of  this  themselves  from  his 
discourses,  actions,  sufferings,  and  resurrection,  they  thought 
nothine  more  was  wantinof  to  convince  such  others  as  were 
serious  and  impartial,  but  a  simple  narrative  of  what  Jesus 
said  and  did. 

If  we  compare  the  transcendent  greatness  of  this  character 
with  the  indirect  manner  in  which  it  was  delivered,  and  the 
illiterateness  and  low  condition  of  the  Evangelists,  it  will 
appear  impossible  that  they  should  have  forged  it,  —  that  they 
should  not  have  had  a  real  original  before  them,  so  that 
nothing  was  wanting  but  to  record  simply  and  faithfully. 

How  could  mean  and  illiterate  persons  excel  the  greatest 
geniuses,  ancient  and  modern,  in  drawing  a  character?  How 
came  they  to  draw  it  in  an  indirect  manner  ?  This  is,  indeed, 
a  strong  evidence  of  genuineness  and  truth  ;  but  then  it  is  of 
so  recluse  and  subtile  a  nature,  and,  agreeably  to  this,  has  been 
so  little  taken  notice  of  by  the  defenders  of  the  Christian 
religion,  that  one  cannot  conceive  the  Evangelists  were  at  all 
aware  that  it  was  an  evidence.  The  character  of  Christ,  as 
drawn  by  them,  is  therefore  genuine  and  true  ;  and  conse- 
quently proves  his  divine  mission  both  by  its  transcendent 
excellence,  and  by  his  laying  claim  to  such  a  mission. 


ROBERT    BOYLE. 

[Works.     London:  1772.     Vol.  v.  p.  553.] 

There  is  yet  a  more  aspiring  path  of  virtue  traced  us  out  in 
the  Gospel,  where  it  proposes  to  us  the  example  of  Christ,  as 
one  whose  steps  we  are  to  tread  in  :  for  not  not  only  that 
Divine  Person  never  committed  any  sin,  neither  was  guile 
found  in  his  mouth  ;  but  the  supreme  and  omniscient  Judge, 
God  himself,  declared  by  a  voice  from  heaven  his  full  appro- 
bation, both  of  his  person   and  his  doctrine,  when  he    said, 


82  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

"This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased;  hear 
ye  him."  And  his  sinless  life,  which  was  a  living  law,  did  not 
only  surpass  the  examples,  but  even  the  precepts  and  ideas 
too,  of  the  heathen  moralists  and  philosophers,  as  may  be 
elsewhere  shown.  And  the  becoming  a  serious  disciple  of  so 
perfect  and  divine  a  Teacher  does  itself  so  engage  a  man  to 
renounce  his  former  vices,  that,  when  St.  Paul  had  dissuaded 
his  Romans  from  divers  other  vices,  instead  of  exhorting 
them  to  the  contrary  virtues  in  particular,  he  only  desires 
them,  in  general,  "  to  put  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  as  a 
comprehensive  duty,  which  contained  in  it  all  the  virtues  he 
declined  to  enumerate. 


ROBERT   HALL. 

[Works.     New  York  :   1849.     Vol.  iii.  p.  432.] 

In  the  midst  of  insults  and  injuries,  the  most  unmerited 
and  aggravated,  Christ  exhibited  a  perfect  pattern  of  patient 
resignation.  He  never  resented  the  violence  of  his  enemies. 
"When  he  was  reviled,  he  reviled  not  again."  The  miracu- 
lous powers  he  possessed  over  nature  and  the  minds  of  men, 
he  never  exerted  to  avert  his  own  sufferings  or  avenge  his 
wrongs  upon  his  persecutors.  Though  the  elements  were  at 
his  disposal,  and  demons  subject  to  his  command,  yet  in  the 
crisis  of  his  affliction,  nothing  was  visible  but  compassion  for 
the  guilty.  "  Father,"  he  cried,  "  forgive  them,  for  they  know 
not  what  they  do."  Nor  would  he  suffer  his  disciples  to 
retaliate  the  injuries  he  received.  He  rebuked  Peter  when 
he  drew  his  sword  on  Malchus ;  he  rebuked  his  disciples 
when  they  would  have  called  down  fire  on  the  Samaritans, 
saying,  "  Ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of." 

Gentleness  and  tenderness,  a  sensibility  to  the  sufferings 
of  others,  and  an  indifference  to  his  own,  —  these  formed  the 
most  prominent  traits  of  his  character.  In  these  he  places 
the  essence  of  his  religion,  so  far  as  it  is  practical  and  relative 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  83 

to  others.  Of  other  virtues  we  may  say  they  form  parts  of 
the  Christian  character,  but  these  are  emphatically  the  Chris- 
tian spirit  itself.  In  proportion  as  we  are  patient,  compas- 
sionate, forbearing,  forgiving,  and  ready  even  to  suffer  for  the 
good  of  others,  we  have  "  the  mind  of  Christ." 


BEILBY    PORTEOUS. 

[Lectures  on  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew.    New  Haven :  1S03.     Pp-  402-404.] 

The  divine  Author  of  our  religion  is,  beyond  comparison, 
the  most  extraordinary  and  most  important  personage  that 
ever  appeared  on  this  habitable  globe.  His  birth,  his  life,  his 
doctrines,  his  precepts,  his  miracles,  his  sufferings,  his  death, 
his  resurrection,  his  ascension,  are  all  without  parallel  in  the 
history  of  mankind.  The  work  he  undertook  was  the  greatest 
and  most  astonishing  that  can  be  conceived,  and  such  as  never 
before  entered  into  the  imagination  of  man.  It  was  nothing 
less  than  the  conversion  of  a  whole  world. 

He  proves  himself  to  have  a  commission  from  heaven,  for 
those  great  purposes,  by  such  demonstrations  of  divine  wis- 
dom, power,  and  goodness,  as  it  is  impossible  for  any  fair  and 
ingenuous  and  unprejudiced  mind  to  resist. 

Consider,  in  the  first  place,  the  transcendent  excellence  of 
our  Lord's  character,  so  infinitely  beyond  that  of  every  other 
moral  teacher ;  the  gentleness,  the  calmness,  the  composure, 
the  dignity,  the  spotless  sanctity,  of  his  manners,  so  utterly 
inconsistent  with  every  idea  of  enthusiasm  or  imposture  ; 
the  compassion,  the  kindne.ss,  the  tenderness,  he  expressed 
for  the  whole  human  race,  even  for  the  worst  of  sinners 
and  the  bitterest  of  his  enemies  ;  the  perfect  command  he  had 
over  his  own  passions ;  the  patience,  the  meekness,  with 
which  he  bore  the  cruelest  insults  and  the  grossest  indignities  ; 
the  fortitude  he  displayed  under  the  most  excruciating  tor- 
ments ;  the  sublimity  and  importance  of  his  doctrines  ;  the 
consummate  wisdom    and    purity  of  his    moral  precepts,  far 


84  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

exceeding  the  natural  power  of  a  man  born  in  the  humblest 
situation  and  in  a  remote  and  obscure  corner  of  the  world, 
without  learning,  education,  languages,  or  books :  and  when 
you  lay  all  these  things  together,  and  weigh  them  deliberately 
and  impartially,  your  minds  must  be  formed  in  a  very  peculiar 
manner  indeed,  if  they  are  not  most  thoroughly  impressed 
with  faith  in  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Gospel  which  he  taught. 


THOMAS    ERSKINE    OF   LINLATHEN. 

[Letters.     Edinburgh :  1878.     P.  395.] 

Jesus, is  the  revealer  of  the  Father,  and  his  deeds  have 
their  chief  value  in  discovering  to  us  the  everlasting  Fountain 
out  of  which  they  flowed.  It  seems  to  me  that  at  every  step 
of  his  earthly  course  we  should  hear  him  saying,  "  He  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  And  what  were  all  those 
steps,  but  a  varied  manifestation  of  the  desire  to  seek  and  to 
save  the  lost?  What  were  they  but  varied  expressions  of 
sympathy  for  man  pressed  down  by  sin  and  sorrow  ?  So  the 
miraculous  cures  are  less  considered  by  the  Fvangelists  as 
acts  of  power,  than  as  acts  of  compassion  and  tokens  of 
sympathy.     And  thus  he  revealed  the  Father. 


CARL    AUGUST    AUBERLEN. 

[The  Divine  Revelation.     Edinburgh:   1S67.   P.  65.] 

The  Risen  One  is  essentially  the  Man  who  has  really 
attained  his  original  ideal. 

In  the  spiritualized  and  transformed  Christ,  the  true 
ideal  of  humanity  is  absolutely  realized.  Therefore  he  is 
the  crown  of  our  race,  the  surety  who  guarantees  to  men  the 
realization  of  their  ideal  perfection.  .  .  .  Without  him  the 
crown  would  be  torn  from  the  head  of  humanity. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  85 


JOHN    FOSTER. 

[Lectures.     London:  1845.     Pp.  398,  399.] 

TiiiXK  of  all  the  affection  of  human  hearts  that  has  been 
given  to  the  Saviour  of  the  world  since  he  withdrew  his 
visible  presence  from  it !  He  has  appeared  to  na  eye  of 
man  since  the  apostles  ;  but  millions  have  loved  him,  with 
a  fervency  which  nothing  could  extinguish,  in  life  or  death. 
Think  of  the  great  "  army"  of  those  who  have  suffered  death 
for  this  love,  and  have  cherished  it  in  death  !  And  a  mightier 
number  still  would  have  died  for  it,  and  with  it,  if  summoned 
to  do  so.  Think  of  all  those  who,  in  the  incitement  and 
inspiration  of  this  love,  have  indefatigably  labored  to  promote 
the  glory  of  its  great  object ;  and  the  innumerable  multitude 
of  those  who,  though  less  pre-eminently  distinguished,  have 
felt  this  sacred  sentiment  living  in  the  soul,  as  the  principle 
of  its  best  life  and  the  source  of  all  its  immortal  hope.  This 
is  a  splendid  fact  in  the  history  of  our  race,  a  glorious  excep- 
tion to  the  vast  and  fatal  expenditures  of  human  affection  on 
unworthy  and  merely  visible  things.  So  grand  a  tribute  of 
the  soul  has  been  redeemed  to  be  given  to  the  Redeemer, 
though  an  object  unseen. 


WILLIAM    AUSTIN. 

[The  Human  Character  of  Christ.    Boston:  1807.     Pp.  25,  48.] 

Jesus  Christ  w^as  endued  not  only  with  all  those  qualities 
of  mind  which  are  considered  the  attributes  of  command,  and 
insure  a  superior  standing  among  men,  but  he  was  still  more 
noted  for  the  milder  virtues.  These,  though  less  splendid, 
meant  more,  in  that  they  rarely  associate  with  strongly  marked 
characters,  are  subjects  of  attainments  rather  than  gifts  of 
nature,  and  require  a  habit  of  circumspection  to  preserve,  and 
a   constant    exercise    to    practise.     But    in    Jesus    the    most 


86  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

opposite  traits  seemed  to  blend  so  naturally  that  one  is  in 
danger  of  mistaking  two  virtues  for  a  single  one.  His  habit- 
ual meekness,  and  undaunted  firmness,  his  all-subduing 
wisdom  accompanied  with  a  subtile  sagacity,  and  his  almost 
childish  simplicity,  never  for  a  moment  proved  a  foil  to  each 
other.   .  .  . 

Human  nature  was  thought  to  be  raised  by  the  Stoics  to 
a  dignity  scarcely  its  own.  But  their  moral  austerity  coun- 
teracted itself,  and  produced  a  pride  and  intolerance  not 
always  compatible  with  social  life.  The  discourse  of  Jesus  on 
the  Mount  gave  a  moral,  which,  though  built  on  humility, 
transcended  the  severity  of  the  Stoics,  and  taught  the  man 
what  he  ought  to  be,  rather  than  what  he  might  be.  The 
Stoics  made  no  allowance  for  human  frailty.  Even  the  milder 
virtues  were  treated  with  contempt.  Pity  was  a  weakness, 
compassion  a  crime,  and  love  was  divested  not  only  of  senti- 
ment, but  of  heart.  They  tied  up  the  passions,  and  chastised 
the  sensations.  Jesus  Christ,  though  he  struck  at  the  roots 
of  men's  pride,  offered  no  violence  to  his  nature.  Jesus 
offered  no  new  system :  he  who  addresses  the  human  heart 
should  never  think  of  a  system. 


^VILLIAM    HANNA. 

[Our  Lord's  Life  on  Earth.     Edinburgh  :  1S69.     Pp.  244,  245.] 

The  beauty  and  force  of  that  special  lesson,  which  the 
story  of  the  Good  Samaritan  was  intended  to  convey,  was 
mightily  enhanced,  as  we  remember  how  recently  our  Lord 
himself  had  suffered  from  the  intolerance  of  the  Samaritans  ; 
only  a  few  days  before, — we  know  not  how  few,  —  having 
been  refused  entrance  into  one  of  their  villages.  He  himself 
thus  gave  an  exhibition  of  the  very  virtue  he  designed  to 
inculcate. 

But  why  speak  of  this  as  any  single  minor  act  of  universal 
love  to  mankind  on  his  part  ?     Was  not  his  life  and  death  one 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  87 

continuous  manifestation  of  his  love  ?  Yes :  bright  as  that 
single  act  of  the  Good  Samaritan  shines  in  the  annals  of 
human  kindness,  all  its  brightness  fades  away  in  the  full  blaze 
of  that  love  of  Jesus,  which  saw  not  a  single  traveller,  but  our 
whole  race,  cast  forth  naked,  bleeding,  dying,  and  gave  not 
a  day  of  his  time,  nor  a  portion  of  his  raiment,  but  a  whole 
lifetime  of  service  and  of  suffering,  that  they  might  not  perish 
but  have  everlasting  life. 


NAPOLEON  BONAPARTE. 

[Conversation  with  Gen.  Bertrand  at  St.  Helena.    John  S.  C.  Abbott's 
Life  of  Napoleon.    Vol.  ii.  p.  612  et  seq?^ 

Explanatory  Note.  —  As  much  doubt  has  existed,  and  still  exists,  re- 
specting the  genuineness  of  the  testimony  attributed  to  Napoleon,  it  is  proper 
to  state  that  the  utmost  research  concerning  the  facts  in  the  case  has  not  been 
able  to  place  the  matter  beyond  doubt. 

Dr.  Philip  Schaff,  in  his  "  Person  of  Christ,"  states  with  fairness  the 
strength  and  weakness  of  the  evidences  for  and  against  the  authenticity  of 
this  now  famous  passage.  Among  other  things  he  says,  "  Gen.  Bertrand,  an 
avowed  unbeliever,  and  Gen.  Montholon,  who,  after  his  return  to  Europe, 
became  a  believer,  or  at  least  seriously  inclined,  would  be  the  proper  vouch- 
ers, since  they  heard,  and  must  have  reported,  these  utterances  at  St.  Helena ; 
but  I  cannot  find  it  in  their  writings,  so  far  as  they  came  to  my  knowledge. 
I  was  informed  by  Dr.  Stowe  that  Gen.  Bertrand,  when  on  a  visit  to  this 
country,  was  asked  by  a  company  of  ministers  at  Pittsburgh  whether  Napoleon 
really  uttered  those  sentiments  in  conversation  with  him,  and  that  he  gave  an 
affirmative  answer ;  but,  on  further  inquiry,  I  could  get  no  satisfactory  reply 
from  Pittsburgh.  I  also  looked  in  vain  for  such  strong  and  explicit  confes- 
sions in  the  Memoirs  of  Las  Casas,  Antommarchi,  and  O'Meara,  and  other 
authentic  sources  on  the  life  of  Napoleon  at  St.  Helena,  although  they  con- 
tain some  religious  conversations  of  the  Emperor,  more  or  less  favorable  to 
Christianity  and  the  Bible.  ...  In  view  of  all  I  can  gather,  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  these  religious  conversations  of  Napoleon  have  been  consider- 
ably enlarged  or  modified  in  the  recollection  of  Bertrand,  Montholon,  and 
other  reporters ;  but  are  authentic  in  substance,  because  they  have  the 
grandiloquent  and  egotistic  Napoleonic  ring,  and  are  marked  by  that  massive 
grandeur  and  granite-like  simplicity  of  thought  and  style  which  characterized 
the  best  of  his  utterances." 


88  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Though  the  external  proofs  of  the  genuineness  of  the  testimony  attrib- 
uted to  Napoleon  are  very  meagre  and  unsatisfactory,  the  testimony  itself, 
though  its  authorship  were  unknown,  is  sufficiently  striking  and  impressive  to 
entitle  it  to  a  place  in  this  collection.  I  give,  therefore,  the  most  significant 
passages. 

Every  thing  in  Christ  astonishes  me.  His  spirit  overawes 
me,  and  his  will  confounds  me.  Between  him  and  whoever 
else  in  the  world,  there  is  no  possible  term  of  comparison. 
His  ideas  and  his  sentiments,  the  truths  which  he  announces, 
his  manner  of  convincing,  are  not  explained  either  by  human 
organization  or  by  the  nature  of  things. 

His  birth,  and  the  history  of  his  life  ;  the  profundity  of 
his  doctrine,  which  grapples  the  mightiest  difficulties,  and 
which  is  of  those  difficulties  the  most  admirable  solution  ;  his 
Gospel,  his  apparition,  his  empire,  his  march  across  the  ages 
and  the  realms,  —  every  thing  is  for  me  a  prodigy,  a  mystery 
insoluble,  which  plunges  me  into  reveries  which  I  cannot 
escape  ;  a  mystery  which  is  there  before  my  eyes  ;  a  mystery 
which  I  can  neither  deny  nor  explain.  Here  I  see  nothing 
human. 

The  nearer  I  approach,  the  more  carefully  I  examine, 
every  thing  is  above  me  ;  every  thing  remains  grand,  of  a 
grandeur  which  overpowers.  His  religion  is  a  revelation 
from  an  intelligence  which  is  certainly  not  that  of  man. 
There  is  there  a  profound  originality  which  has  created  a 
series  of  words  and  of  maxims  before  unknown.  Jesus  bor- 
rowed nothing  from  our  science.  One  can  absolutely  find 
nowhere,  but  in  him  alone,  the  imitation  or  the  example  of  his 
life.  He  is  not  a  philosopher,  since  he  advances  by  miracles  ; 
and,  from  the  commencement,  his  disciples  worshipped  him. 

In  fact,  the  sciences  and  philosophy  avail  nothing  for 
salvation  ;  and  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  reveal  the  mys- 
teries of  heaven  and  the  laws  of  the  Spirit.  Also  he  has 
nothing  to  do  but  with  the  soul,  and  to  that  alone  he  brings 
his  gospel.  The  soul  is  sufficient  for  him,  as  he  is  sufficient 
for  the  soul.     Before  him  the  soul  was  nothing.     Matter  and 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  89 

time  were  the  masters  of  the  world.  At  his  voice,  every 
thing  returns  to  order.  Science  and  philosophy  become  sec- 
ondary. The  soul  has  recognized  its  sovereignty.  All  the 
scholastic  scaffolding  falls,  as  an  edifice  ruined,  before  one 
single  word,  —  Faith. 

What  a  master,  and  what  a  word,  which  can  effect  such  a 
revolution  !  With  what  authority  does  he  teach  men  to  pray ! 
He  imposes  his  belief;  and  no  one,  thus  far,  has  been  able  to 
contradict  him,  —  first,  because  the  gospel  contains  the  purest 
morality ;  and  also  because  the  doctrine  which  it  contains  of 
obscurity  is  only  the  proclamation  and  the  truth  of  that  which 
exists  where  no  eye  can  see,  and  no  reason  can  penetrate. 
Who  is  the  insensate  who  will  say  "  No"  to  the  intrepid  voyager 
who  recounts  the  marvels  of  the  icy  peaks  which  he  alone  has 
had  the  boldness  to  visit  ?  Christ  is  that  bold  voyager.  One 
can  doubtless  remain  incredulous ;  but  no  one  can  venture  to 
say,  "  It  is  not  soT  .  .  . 

You  speak  of  Caesar,  of  Alexander,  of  their  conquests, 
and  of  the  enthusiasm  which  they  kindled  in  the  hearts  of 
their  soldiers  ;  but  can  you  conceive  of  a  dead  man  making 
conquests,  with  an  army  faithful  and  entirely  devoted  to  his 
memory?  My  armies  have  forgotten  me,  even  while  living,  as 
the  Carthaginian  army  forgot  Hannibal.  Such  is  our  power ! 
A  single  battle  lost  crushes  us,  and  adversity  scatters  our 
friends. 

Can  you  conceive  of  Caesar  as  the  eternal  emperor  of  the 
Roman  senate,  and,  from  the  depth  of  his  mausoleum,  govern- 
ing the  empire,  watching  over  the  destinies  of  Rome  ?  Such 
is  the  history  of  the  invasion  and  conquest  of  the  world  by 
Christianity ;  such  is  the  power  of  the  God  of  the  Christians ; 
and  such  is  the  perpetual  miracle  of  the  progress  of  the  faith, 
and  of  the  government  of  his  Church.  Nations  pass  away, 
thrones  crumble;  but  the  Church  remains.  What  is,  then, 
the  power  which  has  protected  this  Church,  thus  assailed 
by  the  furious  billows  of  rage  and  the  hostility  of  ages  ? 
Whose  is  the    arm,   which   for  eighteen   hundred  years   has 


90  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

protected    the    Church    from    so    many    storms   which    have 
threatened  to  ingulf  it  ? 

Alexander,  Caesar,  Charlemagne,  and  myself  founded 
empires.  But  on  what  did  we  rest  the  creations  of  our 
genius  ?  Upon  force.  Jesus  Christ  alone  founded  his  empire 
upon  love,  and  at  this  hour  millions  of  men  would  die  for  him. 

In  every  other  existence  but  that  of  Christ,  how  many 
imperfections  !  Where  is  the  character  which  has  not  yielded, 
vanquished  by  obstacles  ?  Where  is  the  individual  who  has 
never  been  governed  by  circumstances  or  places,  who  has  never 
succumbed  to  the  influences  of  the  times,  who  has  never  com- 
pounded with  any  customs  or  passions  ?  From  the  first  day 
to  the  last,  he  is  the  same,  always  the  same,  —  majestic  and 
simple,  infinitely  firm  and  infinitely  gentle. 

Truth  should  embrace  the  universe.  Such  is  Christianity, 
the  only  religion  which  destroys  sectional  prejudices,  the  only 
one  which  proclaims  the  unity  and  the  absolute  brotherhood 
of  the  whole  human  family,  the  only  one  which  is  purely 
spiritual ;  in  fine,  the  only  one  which  assigns  to  all,  without 
distinction,  for  a  true  country,  the  bosom  of  the  Creator,  God. 
Christ  proved  that  he  was  the  Son  of  the  Eternal,  by  his 
disregard  of  time.  All  his  doctrines  signify  one  only  and  the 
same  thing,  —  eternity. 

What  a  proof  of  the  divinity  of  Christ !  With  an  empire 
so  absolute,  he  has  but  one  single  end,  —  the  spiritual  meliora- 
tion of  individuals,  the  purity  of  the  conscience,  the  union  to 
that  which  is  true,  the  holiness  of  the  soul. 

Christ  speaks,  and  at  once  generations  become  his  by 
stricter,  closer  ties  than  those  of  blood,  — by  the  most  sacred, 
the  most  indissoluble,  of  unions.  He  lights  up  the  flames  of 
a  love  which  prevails  over  every  other  love.  The  founders 
of  other  religions  never  conceived  of  this  mystical  love,  which 
is  the  essence  of  Christianity,  and  is  bcautifuU)'  called  charity. 
In  every  attempt  to  effect  this  thing,  viz.,  to  make  himself 
beloved,  man  deeply  feels  his  own  impotence.  So  that 
Christ's  greatest  miracle  undoubtedly  is  the  reign  of  charity. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  9 1 

JOHANN   AUGUST   WILHELM    NEANDER. 

[The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ.     London  :  1869.     Pp.  2,  3,  6.] 

What,  then,  is  the  special  presupposition  with  which  we 
must  approach  the  contemplation  of  the  life  of  Christ  ?  It  is 
one  on  which  hangs  the  very  being  of  the  Christian  as  such  ; 
the  existence  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  the  nature  of  the 
Christian  consciousness.  It  is  one  at  whose  touch  of  power, 
the  dry  bones  of  the  old  world  spring  up  in  all  the  vigor  of  a 
new  creation.  It  gave  birth  to  all  that  culture  from  which  the 
Germanic  nations  received  their  peculiar  intellectual  life,  and 
from  which  the  emancipation  of  the  mind  grown  too  strong 
for  its  bonds  was  developed  in  the  Reformation. 

It  is  the  very  root  and  ground  of  our  modern  civilization  ; 
and  the  latter,  even  in  its  attempts  to  separate  from  this  root, 
must  rest  upon  it.  Indeed,  should  such  attempts  succeed,  it 
must  dissolve  into  its  orip^inal  elements,  and  assume  an  en- 
tirely  new  form.  It  is,  in  a  word,  the  belief  that  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  Son  of  God  in  a  sense  which  cannot  be  predicated 
of  any  human  being,  —  the  perfect  image  of  the  personal  God, 
in  the  form  of  that  humanity  that  was  estranged  from  him  ; 
that  in  him  the  source  of  the  divine  life  itself  in  humanity 
appeared  ;  that  by  him  the  idea  of  humanity  w^as  realized. 

In  all  other  men,  there  is  a  contrast  between  the  ideal  and 
the  phenomenal.  While  in  many  of  their  traits  we  may 
discover  the  divine  principle  which  forms  their  individuality, 
in  others  we  see  opposing  elements  which  go  to  make  a  mere 
caricature  of  that  principle.  We  can  obtain  no  clear  view 
of  the  aim  of  the  life  of  such  men,  unless  we  can  seize  upon 
the  higher  elements  which  form  the  individual  character ;  just 
as  an  artist  might  depict  accurately  a  man's  organic  features, 
and,  for  want  of  the  peculiar  intellectual  expression,  fail  com- 
pletely in  giving  the  entire  living  physiognomy.  But  without 
the  conception  of  the  living  whole,  we  could  not  detect  the 
separate  features  which  mar  the  harmony  of  the  whole.     On 


92  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

the  other  side,  again,  if  we  contemplate  the  whole  apart  from 
the  individual  features,  we  shall  only  form  an  arbitrary  ideal, 
not  at  all  corresponding  to  the  reality.  In  Christ,  however, 
the  ideal  and  the  phenomenal  never  contradict  each  other. 
All  depends  upon  our  viewing  rightly  together  the  separate 
features  in'  their  connection  with  the  higher  unity  of  the 
whole.  We  presuppose  this  view  of  the  whole,  in  order  to 
a  just  conception  of  the  parts,  and  to  avoid  regarding  any 
necessary  feature  in  the  light  of  a  caricature.  And  as,  even 
in  studying  the  life  of  an  eminent  man,  we  must  commune 
with  his  spirit  in  order  to  obtain  a  complete  view  of  his 
being,  so  we  must  yield  ourselves  up  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ 
whom  we  acknowledofe  and  adore  as  exalted  above  us,  that  he 
himself  may  show  us  his  divine  image  in  the  mirror  of  his  life, 
and  teach  us  to  distinguish  all  prejudices  of  our  creating  from 
the  necessary  laws  of  our  being. 


GULIAN    C.  VERPLANCK. 

[Essays  on  Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion.    New  York :  1824.     Pp.  232-236.} 

I  HAVE  before  observed  —  what  philosophers  and  reasoners, 
in  the  pride  of  intellect,  are  much  inclined  to  overlook  —  that 
man's  purely  intellectual  faculties,  and  the  logical  exercise  of 
them,  are  not  his  only  guides  to  truth.  Full  often  do  his 
natural  sympathies,  emotions,  sensibilities,  and  affections 
speak  to  his  reason  in  that  language  in  which  nature  acknowl- 
edges the  presence  of  its  Author,  and  the  authorit)-  of  his 
commandments.  Thus  it  is,  too,  with  regard  to  much  of  this 
evidence.  There  is  a  natural  sentiment  of  truth  in  testimony, 
and  honesty  in  character,  as  well  as  a  rational  perception  of 
them. 

Ihis  power  of  interpreting  the  language  of  nature  is  not 
learnt  from  any  rules  of  criticism,  but  springs  up  of  itself,  antl 
requires  only  use  and  exercise  for  its  development.  This  is 
the  great  principle   that  constitutes  the    true    foundation    of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  93 

g-ood  taste  and  sound  criticism.  It  mingles  with  our  daily 
thoughts,  guides  us  in  the  ways  of  mankind,  regulates  or 
infiuences  our  judgments  of  character,  and  dictates  to  us 
the  faith  which  we  may  give  to  the  assertions  of  others,  and  the 
reliance  which  we  may  place  upon  their  truth  or  honor,   .   .   . 

There  is  a  simplicity  and  directness  accompanying  strict 
truth,  which,  like  the  frank  and  open  aspect  of  unsuspicious 
honesty,  at  once  conciliates  the  confidence  of  all  whose 
imaginations  are  not  filled  with  dark  suspicions  and  universal 
distrust,  or  whose  aversion  to  the  subject  of  the  evidence  does 
not  prejudice  them  against  the  character  of  the  witness.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  is  a  partisan  tone,  and  there  is  also 
a  manner  of  romance  and  embellishment,  which  are  as  surely 
calculated  to  weaken  confidence,  and  to  suggest  distrust  to 
all  who  do  not  participate  in  the  feelings  of  the  writer. 

But  the  historic  portions  of  the  New  Testament,  above  all 
other  narrative  writings  of  any  particularity  whatever,  are 
remarkable  for  their  perfect  artlessness,  and  their  grave  and 
solemn  composure  ;  for  the  absence  of  all  efforts  to  animate 
or  embellish  the  story,  to  increase  its  interest,  or  to  fill  the 
reader  with  admiration  for  the  character,  and  still  less  for 
the  prodigies,  of  him  whose  acts  they  record.  They  narrate 
his  actions,  and  record  parts  of  his  instruction,  and  no  more. 
So  far  are  they  from  showing  any  desire  to  enforce  the  truth 
of  their  story  by  argument,  authority,  or  rhetoric,  that  the 
bare  possibility  of  being  charged  with  falsehood  seems  never 
to  suggest  itself  to  them.  They  manifest  nothing  of  the 
feeling  of  party;  not  a  word  of  eulogy,  or  of  vituperation,  or 
even  of  censure,  escapes  them.  The  deeds  and  the  words 
of  the  tyrant  or  the  traitor,  of  the  malignant  or  the  hypo- 
critical, are  spoken  as  they  occurred,  but  without  epithet  or 
comment.  There  is  never  any  climax  of  prodigies,  no  gradual 
preparation  for  surprise  and  wonder.  Of  themselves  they 
think  not.  They  speak  transiently  of  their  own  errors  and 
gross  ignorance,  and  of  those  of  their  friends  and  companions, 
without  affectation  of  humility,  but  with  no  attempt  to  conceal 


94  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

or  excuse  them.  Filled  with  the  grand  truth  of  their  subject, 
their  own  little  feelings  are  forgotten,  or  rather  totally 
absorbed.  In  them,  the  natural  passions  of  human  nature, 
which  mingle  with  the  thoughts  of  the  wisest  and  best,  seem 
for  a  time  to  have  sunk  down,  and  become  hushed  into  a 
hallowed  calm. 

They  profess  to  be,  and  they  are,  witnesses  and  historians, 
and  nothing  else. 

Every  transient  and  unaffected  indication  which  can  be 
given  in  such  compositions,  of  the  temper  and  moral  disposi- 
tion of  the  writer,  in  the  exercise  of  candor,  of  humility,  of 
liberal  and  tolerant  judgment  of  others,  in  the  suppression 
of  all  personal  bitterness,  singularly  agrees  with  the  precepts 
and  moral  tendency  of  the  religion  itself. 

This  last  circumstance  at  once  affords  an  evidence  of 
veracity,  resembling  that  arising  from  the  circumstantial  agree- 
ment of  incidental  particulars,  and,  at  the  same  time,  com- 
mends the  testimony  of  these  men  to  our  belief,  by  all  that 
just  authority  which  arises  from  excellence  of  moral  character. 


THOMAS    CHALMERS. 

[Select  Works.     New  York  :  1850.     Pp.  42,  43,  47.] 

Our  Saviour  could  have  ministered  food  to  all  the  desti- 
tute with  as  great  facility  as  he  ministered  health  to  the 
diseased  ;  and  it  is  a  question  worthy  of  being  considered, 
why  he  was  so  sparing  in  the  one,  and  so  abundant,  and  so 
indiscriminate,  and,  for  any  thing  we  read,  so  universal,  in  the 
other  ministration.  We  know  not  that  he  ever  sent  a  peti- 
tioner for  health,  uncured  or  disappointed,  away  from  him  ; 
and  we  know  i^tot,  at  the  same  time,  if  he  ever  above  twacc  in 
the  whole  course  of  his  history  upon  earth  interposed  with 
a  miracle  for  the  relief  of  hunger ;  while  in  the  passage  before 
us  [John  vi.  24-26],  it  appears  that  instead  of  meeting,  he 
rebuked,  the  expectations  of  those  who  were   running  after 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  95 

him  in  the  hope  of  such  a  miracle.  The  truth  is,  that  our 
Saviour's  progress  in  Judaea  had  before  this  time  become  a 
path  of  pubHc  notoriety.  The  eye  of  general  observation 
was  upon  all  his  footsteps,  and  the  report  of  every  transac- 
tion of  his  was  now  sure  to  circulate  through  the  land,  so 
that  the  operations  of  his  beneficence  were  quite  equivalent, 
in  effect,  to  the  operations  of  a  proclaimed  charity ;  and  you 
have  only  to  conceive  the  effect  that  it  must  have  had  upon 
the  habits  of  the  people,  did  the  Saviour,  by  an  indefinite 
multiplication  of  loaves,  hold  out  the  assurance  to  all  who 
followed  him,  that  they  would  also  be  fed  by  him.  It  would, 
in  fact,  have  deranged  the  whole  mechanism  of  Jewish  society; 
and  the  people,  at  large  from  the  regularities  of  their  wonted 
employment,  would  have  carried  a  thickening  and  accumulat- 
ing disorder  along  with  them  over  the  whole  country.  Every- 
where some  habit  of  Industry  would  have  been  suspended, 
had  the  great  Teacher  of  moral  righteousness  been  thus 
transformed  into  the  almoner  of  assailing  multitudes. 

And  it  would  not  only  have  brought  a  great  civil  and 
political  mischief  upon  his  countrymen  :  it  would  also  have 
raised  a  subtle  and  insurmountable  barrier  in  the  way  of 
every  conversion  from  sin  unto  God.  His  object  was  to  lead 
men  on  the  path  to  heaven  ;  but  it  is  essential  to  the  act  of 
walking  in  this  path,  that  there  be  the  self-denial  of  every 
earth-born  propensity,  so  that,  from  the  very  nature  of  the 
case,  it  ceases  to  be  a  movement  heavenwards  when  men  are 
led  to  it  by  the  bribery  of  this  world's  advantages.  Godli- 
ness, by  being  turned  into  gain,  ceases  to  be  godliness.  His 
undertaking  was  to  accomplish  in  the  person  of  every  disciple 
a  triumph  of  the  spiritual  over  the  sensitive  part  of  the  human 
constitution,  and  to  raise  the  affections  of  our  degenerate 
nature  from  the  things  which  are  beneath  us  to  the  things 
which  are  above.  Had  he,  in  possession  of  the  gift  of  multi- 
plying loaves,  done  without  measure  and  without  considera- 
tion, what  many  of  our  scheming  philanthropists  would  have 
counted  so  desirable,  he  In  fact  would  have  nullified  his  own 


96  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

errand.  He  would  have  stifled  that  principle  which  he  sought 
to  implant,  and  nourished  that  principle  which  he  wanted  to 
destroy. 

There  is  not  only  wisdom,  but  a  profoundness  of  wisdom, 
in  the  example  of  our  Saviour.  And  in  the  matter  of  human 
charity,  it  will  be  seen  that  both  by  the  actions  of  his  history, 
and  the  admonitions  of  the  greatest  of  his  apostles,  he  pro- 
vides not  only  in  the  best  manner  for  the  worth  of  individual 
character,  but  that  he  also  provides  in  the  best  manner  for  the 
economic  regulation  of  the  largest  and  most  complex  societies. 


JOSEPH    STEVENS    BUCKMINSTER. 

[Sermons.     Boston:  1814.     Pp.  23,  38,  39.] 

There  is  something  in  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ  which, 
to  an  attentive  reader  of  his  history,  is  of  more  force  than  all 
the  weight  of  external  evidence  to  prove  him  divine.  If  we 
attempt  to  persuade  ourselves  that  there  is  nothing  super- 
natural in  the  picture,  which,  with  so  much  simplicity  and 
unlabored  consistency,  the  Evangelists  have  given  of  our  Lord, 
the  question  rushes  upon  the  mind,  and  demands  an  answer : 
How  was  it,  that  in  the  common  course  of  nature,  in  one  of 
the  most  corrupt  ages  of  the  world,  and  in  an  obscure  corner 
of  an  obscure  country,  a  perfect  personage  or  model  of  the 
moral  class  should  all  at  once  start  up  before  the  admiration 
of  mankind,  and  now,  after  the  lapse  of  many  centuries,  as 
well  as  then,  remain  unrivalled  and  almost  unapproached  ? 

All  about  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  as  fair  and  grand  and 
unaffected  as  the  sun  in  his  course  through  a  cloudless  sky. 
He  appears  to  be  the  delegate  of  him  who  sits  at  the  head 
of  creation,  proposing  messages  of  love,  and  expressing 
in  his  own  manner  the  benevolent  designs  of  his  Father  in 
heaven  toward  this  perverse  nation.  They  behold  him  affec- 
tionate in  his  address,  sublime  in  his  conceptions,  yet  fearless 
in  his  manner,  meekly  conscious  that  God  was  with  him,  and 


ro  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  97 

that  his  unbeHeving  hearers  were  a  wicked  and  cruel  race  who 
would  bring  upon  themselves  the  vengeance  of  the  Most 
High  whose  prophet  they  rejected. 

We  have  said  that  the  kind  of  character  which  Jesus 
exhibited  as  a  Messiah  was  entirely  unexpected  to  his  nation. 
Instead  of  using  his  miraculous  power  to  place  himself  at 
the  head  of  his  nation  as  their  deliverer,  and  conqueror  of  the 
world,  the  Son  of  God  chose  rather  to  appear  as  the  son  of 
peace  and  consolation.  The  heart  of  man  was  the  only  realm 
which  he  aspired  to  rule  ;  and  it  was  as  grateful  to  him  to 
convert  the  publicans  and  sinners,  as  it  would  have  been 
to  receive  the  proud  submission  of  a  prefect  or  an  emperor, 
of  Herod  or  Tiberius.  He  went  about  doinor  o-ood  when  the 
impatient  Jews  were  tempting  him  to  aspire  to  the  throne  of 
David.  What  a  lesson  of  humility  is  this !  What  can  more 
clearly  show  the  unambitious  and  holy  spirit  of  the  Christian 
religion,  than  the  character  of  Christ  in  these  circumstances? 


RICHARD    WHATELY. 

[Bacon's  Essays,  with  Annotations.    Boston:  1877.     P.  130.] 

It  is  now  generally  acknowledged  that  relief  afforded  to 
want,  as  mere  want,  tends  to  increase  that  want ;  while  the 
relief  afforded  to  the  sick,  the  infirm,  and  the  disabled,  has 
plainly  no  tendency  to  multiply  its  own  objects.  Now,  it  is 
remarkable,  that  the  Lord  Jesus  employed  his  miraculous 
power  in  healing  the  sick  contimially,  but  in  feeding  the 
hungry  only  twice ;  while  the  power  of  multiplying  food 
which  he  then  manifested,  as  well  as  his  directing  the  disciples 
to  take  care  and  gather  up  the  fragments  that  remain  that 
nothing  might  be  lost,  seemed  to  mark  that  the  abstaining 
from  any  like  procedure  on  other  occasions  was  deliberate 
design.  In  this,  besides  other  objects,  our  Lord  had  probably 
in  view  to  afford  us  some  instruction,  from  his  example,  as 
to  the  mode  of  our  charity.      Certain  it  is,  that  the  reasons 


98  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

for  this  distinction  are  now,  and  ever  must  be,  the  same  as  at 
that  time.  Now,  with  those  engaged  in  that  important  and 
inexhaustible  subject  of  inquiry,  the  internal  evidences  of 
Christianity,  it  will  be  interesting  to  observe  here  one  of  the 
instances  in  which  the  superhuman  knowledge  of  Jesus  fore- 
stalled the  discovery  of  an  important  principle,  often  over- 
looked not  only  by  the  generality  of  men,  but  by  the  most 
experienced  statesmen  and  the  ablest  philosophers,  even  in 
these  latter  ages  of  extended  human  knowledge,  and 
development  of  mental  power. 


ALEXANDER   CAMPBELL. 

[The  Evidences  of  Christianitv.     Cincinnati:  1S52.     Pp.  4,  5.] 

Jesus  Christ  was  a  real  person,  and  had  personal,  positive 
attributes.  He  had  a  real  and  positive  character,  unique, 
original,  transcendent.  It  was  as  fixed,  as  positive,  and  as 
radiating  as  the  sun  in  heaven.  The  originality  and  unity  of 
his  character  is  all-sufficient,  in  the  eye  of  educated  reason,  to 
claim  for  him  a  cordial  welcome  into  our  world,  and  to  hail 
him  as  the  supreme  benefactor  of  our  race. 

To  my  mind,  it  has  long  been  a  moral  demonstration,  clear 
as  the  sun,  that  no  one  could  have  drawn  a  character,  such  as 
that  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  all  the  stores  of  human  learning, 
from  all  the  resources  of  the  human  imagination.  The  simple 
character  of  Jesus  Christ  weighs  more,  in  the  eyes  of  cultivated 
reason,  than  all  the  miracles  he  ever  wrought.  No  greater 
truth  was  ever  uttered  than  these  words  :  "  He  that  hath  seen 
me  hath  seen  the  Father  also."  No  mortal  ever  could  have 
said  so. 

The  wisdom  and  science  and  learning  of  the  world, 
compared  with  his,  was,  and  is,  and  evermore  shall  be,  as  a 
glimmering  spark  to  a  radiant  star,  as  a  glow-worm  of  the 
twilight  in  contrast  with  the  splendors  of  a  meridian  sun.  It 
is  only  in   the   dark   that  we    can  admire  a  glow-worm  :  we 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  99 

cannot  see  it  when  the  sun  shines.  But  we  might  as  hopefully 
lecture  to  a  blind  man  on  the  philosophy  of  light,  as  address 
the  mere  sensualist,  the  visionary,  or  the  dogmatic  simpleton, 
on  the  originality,  unity,  transparency,  beauty,  and  grandeur  of 
the  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 


JOHN    PYE    SMITH. 

[The  Scripture  Testimony  TO  THE  Messiah.    Edinburgh:  1859.    Vol.  ii.  pp.  97, 419.] 

It  is  delightful  to  dwell  on'the  character  of  this  unrivalled 
Man  ;  not  only  because  in  no  other,  since  the  foundation  of 
the  world,  has  the  intellectual  and  moral  perfection  of  our 
nature  been  exhibited,  but  because  the  contemplation  of  such 
excellence  refreshes  and  elevates  the  mind,  and  encourages 
to  the  beneficial  effort  of  imitation.  He  always  did  the  things 
which  pleased  his  heavenly  Father.  Love,  zeal,  purity,  a 
perfect  acquiescence  in  the  Divine  will  on  every  occasion,  and 
the  most  exalted  habits  of  devotion,  had  their  full  place  and 
exercise  in  his  mind.  The  most  refined  generosity,  but  with- 
out affectation  or  display ;  mildness,  lowliness,  tenderness, 
fidelity,  candor,  a  delicate  respect  for  the  feelings  as  well  as 
the  rights  and  interests  of  others,  prudence,  discriminating 
sagacity,  penetration  into  the  minds  and  schemes  of  his  ablest 
adversaries,  the  soundest  wisdom,  and  the  noblest  fortitude 
shone  from  this  sun  of  righteousness  with  a  lustre  that  never 
was  impaired. 

Even  by  those  who  have  been  unwilling  to  yield  obedience 
to  his  claims,  he  has  been  acknowledged  to  be  the  greatest 
moral  phenomenon  of  the  universe. 

Often  have  his  enemies  admired  and  praised  him. 

His  mind  exhibited,  beyond  all  parallel  among  mortals,  the 
union  of  wisdom  and  holiness,  meekness  and  majesty. 

All  his  dispositions  were  the  most  lovely,  yet  unspeakably 
dignified.  His  whole  moral  character  was  the  perfection  ol 
unalloyed  and  perfect  goodness. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  REDLANDS  LIBRARV 

lOO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

ISAAC   TAYLOR. 

[Lfxtures  on  Spiritual  Christianity.     London:  1841.     Pp.  19-23.] 

It  may  be  questioned,  whether  the  entire  range  of  ancient 
history  presents  any  one  character  in  colors  of  reahty  so  fresh 
as  those  which  distinguish  the  personage  of  the  EvangeHcal 
memoirs.  The  heroes  and  sages  of  antiquity  —  less  and  less 
nearly  related,  as  they  must  be,  to  any  living  interests  —  are 
fading  amid  the  mists  of  an  obsolete  world  ;  but  he  who  is 
"  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever,"  is  offered  to  the 
view  of  mankind  in  the  dyes  of  immortality,  fitting  a  history, 
which,  instead  of  losing  the  intensity  of  its  import,  is  gathering 
weight  by  the  lapse  of  time. 

The  Evangelists,  by  the  translucency  of  their  style,  have 
given  a  lesson  in  biographical  composition,  showing  how 
perfectly  individual  character  may  be  expressed  in  a  method 
which  disdains  every  rule  but  that  of  fidelity. 

It  is  well  to  consider  the  extraordinary  contrasts  that  are 
yet  perfectly  harmonized  in  the  personal  character  of  Christ. 
At  a  first  glance  he  appears  always  in  his  own  garb  of  humilit)-. 
Lowliness  of  demeanor  is  his  very  characteristic.  But  we 
must  not  forget  that  this  lowliness  was  combined  with  nothing 
less  than  a  solemnly  proclaimed  and  peremptory  challenge 
of  rightful  headship  over  the  human  race. 

Nevertheless,  the  oneness  of  the  character,  the  fair  per- 
fection of  the  surface,  suffers  no  rent  by  this  blending  of 
elements  so  strangely  diverse.  Let  us,  then,  bring  before  the 
mind,  with  all  the  distinctness  we  can,  the  conception  of  the 
Teacher,  more  meek  than  any  who  has  ever  assumed  to  rule 
the  oj)inions  of  mankind,  and  who  yet,  in  the  tones  proper  to 
tranquil  modesty,  and  as  conscious  at  once  of  power  and  right, 
anticipates  the  da)' of  wonders  when  thi'/'King  shall  sit  on 
lh(;  throne  ol  his  glory,"  with  his  angels  attendant  ;  and 
when  "  all  nations  shall  be  gathered  before  him,"  from  his  li|)s 
to  receive  their  doom.      The  more  these  elements  of  personal 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  lOI 

character  are  disproportionate,  the  more  convincing  is  the 
proof  of  reality  which  arises  from  their  harmony.  We  may 
read  the  Evangehsts  listlessly,  and  not  perceive  this  evidence  ; 
but  we  can  never  read  them  intelligently  without  yielding  to 
it  our  convictions. 

If  the  character  of  Christ  be,  as  indeed  it  is,  altogether 
unmatched  in  the  circle  of  history,  it  is  even  less  so  by  the 
singularity  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  element  which  it 
contains,  than  by  the  sweetness  and  perfection  which  result 
from  this  union.  This  will  appear  the  more  if  we  consider 
those  instances  in  which  the  combination  was  altogether  of 
an  unprecedented  kind. 

Nothing  has  been  more  constant  in  the  history  of  the 
human  mind,  whenever  the  religious  emotions  have  gained  a 
supremacy  over  the  sensual  and  sordid  passions,  than  the 
breaking-out  of  the  ascetic  temper  in  some  of  its  forms,  and 
most  often  in  that  which  disguises  virtue,  now  as  a  spectre, 
now  as  a  maniac,  now  as  a  mendicant,  now  as  a  slave,  but 
never  as  the  bright  daughter  of  heaven.  Of  the  three  Jewish 
sects  extant  in  our  Lord's  time,  two  of  them  —  that  is  to  say, 
the  two  that  made  any  pretension  to  any  sort  of  piety  —  had 
assumed  the  ascetic  garb  in  its  two  customary  species,  —  the 
philosophic  (the  Essenes)  and  the  fanatical  (the  Pharisees)  ; 
and  so  strong  and  uniform  is  this  crabbed  inclination,  that 
Christianity  itself,  in  violent  contradiction  to  its  spirit  and 
precepts,  went  off  into  the  ascetic  temper  within  a  century 
after  the  close  of  the  apostolic  age.  or  even  earlier. 

Under  this  aspect,  then,  let  us  for  a  moment  consider  the 
absolutely  novel  phenomenon  of  the  teacher  of  a  far  purer 
morality  than  the  world  had  heretofore  ever  listened  to,  }et 
himself  affecting  no  singularities  in  his  modes  of  living.  The 
superiority  of  the  soul  to  the  body  was  the  very  purport  of 
his  doctrine,  and  yet  he  did  not  waste  the  body  by  any 
austerities.  The  duty  of  self-denial  he  perpetually  enforced, 
and  yet  he  practised  no  factitious  mortifications.  This  teacher, 
not  of  abstinence,  but  of  virtue  ;   this  reprover,  not  of  enjoy- 


I02  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

ment,  but  of  vice,  —  himself  went  in  and  out  among  the  social 
amenities  of  ordinar)-  life  with  so  unsolicitous  a  freedom  as  to 
give  color  to  the  malice  of  hypocrisy,  in  pointing  the  finger  at 
him,  saying,  "  Behold  a  gluttonous  man,  and  a  wine-bibber  ; 
a  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners."  Should  we  not,  then,  note 
this  singular  apposition  and  harmony  of  qualities,  —  that  he 
who  was  familiar  with  the  festivities  of  heaven  did  not  any 
more  disdain  the  poor  solaces  of  mortality  than  disregard  its 
transient  pains  and  woes  ?  Follow  this  same  Jesus  from  the 
banquets  of  the  opulent,  where  he  showed  no  scruples  in  diet, 
to  the  highways  and  wildernesses  of  Judaea,  where,  never 
indifferent  to  human  suffering,  he  "  healed  as  many  as  came 
unto  him." 

These  remarkable  features  in  the  personal  character  of 
Christ  have  often,  and  very  properly,  been  adduced  as  instances 
of  the  unrivalled  wisdom  and  elevation  which  mark  him  as 
pre-eminent  among  the  wise  and  good.  It  is  not,  however,  for 
this  purpose  that  we  now  refer  to  them  ;  but  rather  as  harmo- 
nies altogether  inimitable,  and  which  put  beyond  doubt  the 
historic  reality  of  the  person.  Thus  considered  they  must  be 
admitted  by  calm  minds  as  carrying  the  truth  of  Christianity 
itself. 


ALBRECHT    RITSCHL. 

[A  Critical  History  of  the  Christian  Doctrines  of  Justification  and 
Reconciliation.    Edinburgh:  1S72.     Sect.  11.] 

The  relation  of  the  Christian  religion  to  the  person  of  its 
Founder  is  of  a  different  sort  from  the  relation  of  the  other 
monotheistical  religions  to  Moses  and  Mohammed  respec- 
tively. In  both  these,  the  main  business  is  the  founding  of 
a  society,  upon  a  definite  doctrine,  and  after  a  definite  form. 
By  Jesus,  and  in  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  redemption 
has  become  operative  as  a  principle  for  the  moulding  of  the 
devout  self-consciousness,  which  does  not  take  its  .shape  from 
a   legally  enjoined    doctrine    and    constitution,  but  from  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  103 

never-ending  value  of  the  Redeemer  to  the  society  founded 
by  him.  The  ideal  contents  and  the  definite  historical  form  of 
this  religion  thus  coincide  in  such  a  way  that  the  thought 
of  redemption  prevails  in  every  devout  Christian  conscience, 
simply  because  the  beginning  of  that  Christian  society  is  the 
Redeemer ;  and  Jesus  is  the  founder  of  a  devout  society  in 
virtue  of  the  fact  that  the  members  of  that  society  become 
conscious  through  him  of  their  redemption.  While  Moses 
and  Mohammed  are  elevated,  as  it  were,  arbitrarily,  from  the 
body  of  like  or  only  slightly  different  men,  in  order  to  receive 
the  commandments  of  God  for  themselves  as  well  as  for 
others,  Christ  the  Redeemer  stands  out  in  contrast  to  all  as 
beinof  he  who  alone  did  not  need  to  be  redeemed. 


EDGAR    QUINET. 

[Voices  of  the  Church.    London :  1845.    Pp.  74-76.] 

If  any  one  thing  distinguishes  Christianity  from  preceding 
religions,  it  is  that  the  Gospel  is  not  the  apotheosis  of  nature 
in  general,  but  of  personality  itself.  It  has  this  character  in 
its  beginning  and  in  its  end,  in  its  monuments  and  in  its 
dogmas.  How,  then,  should  this  be  wanting  in  its  history  ? 
If  it  had  not  exclusively  prevailed  in  the  new  institution,  this 
would  have  been  but  a  sect  of  the  great  mythology  of  antiquity. 
On  the  contrary,  mankind  has  widely  distinguished  between 
them  because  it  was  in  fact  established  on  a  new  foundation. 
The  in^-ernal  dominion  of  a  soul  which  feels  itself  greater 
than  the  universe,  —  this  is  the  lasting  miracle  of  the  Gospel. 
And  this  prodigy  is  no  illusion,  no  allegory :  it  is  reality. 

In  the  same  manner  as,  in  paganism,  the  sea,  primitive 
night,  the  shoreless  chaos,  gave  a  solid  base  to  popular 
fictions,  here  also  the  infinite  soul  of  Christ  served  as  a 
foundation  for  all  Christian  influences  ;  for,  what  is  the  Gospel 
if  it  be  not  an  unfolding  of  the  inner  world  ? 

All  life,  all  grandeur,  as  well  as  all  misery,  rises  from  the 


I04  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

individual.  Suppose,  then,  that  we  wish  to  exalt  ourselves  in 
union  with  all  the  human  race,  we  must  not  deny  the  dignity 
of  the  individual.  The  noblest  work  of  Christianity  is  to  have 
consecrated  the  individual  in  the  highest  manner ;  for  if  the 
life  of  the  God-made  man  have  a  sense  comprehensible  to  all, 
unexceptionable  to  all,  it  is  because  it  evinces  that  the  infinite 
dwells  in  each  conscience,  as  well  as  in  the  soul  of  the  human 
race ;  and  that  the  thought  of  each  man  may  spread  and 
dilate  itself  so  as  to  embrace  and  penetrate  all  the  moral 
universe. 


DANIEL    SCHENKEL. 

[Character  of  Jesus.     Boston:  1866.    Vol.  ii.  pp.  147,  148.] 

Jesus  carried  in  his  heart  the  consciousness  of  being  the 
champion  and  liberator  of  many,  and  particularly  at  that  time 
when  he  was  about  to  undertake  the  journey  to  Jerusalem. 
It  had  now  become  to  him  an  irrevocable  conviction,  that  he 
was  to  contend  and  suffer  and  die  as  a  sacrifice  for  the  perse- 
cuted and  oppressed  portion  of  mankind,  as  the  friend  and 
brother  of  the  poor,  the  protector  of  the  miserable  upon 
whom  the  leaders  in  Church  and  State  were  wont  to  look 
down  with  indifference  and  contempt.  Thus  the  idea  of  the 
Deliverer  going  to  meet  death  is  put  in  the  purest  light. 
That  he  knew  himself  not  as  the  representative  of  the  distin- 
guished, the  prosperous,  and  the  rich  ;  that  he  relinquished 
utterly  all  human  approval,  all  honor,  all  aid  from  these  classes  ; 
that  he  sought  nothing  more  or  less  than  to  be  the  helper 
and  rescuer  of  those  who  found  nowhere  else  a  heart  to  help 
or  a  hand  to  save  them  ;  that  his  death  was  a  death  met  in 
the  service  of  poverty  and  sorrow,  of  the  outcast  and  the 
perishing,  —  this  is  the  divine  seal  which  the  Eternal  Father 
himself  impressed  upon  his  word,  \\\\v.\\  he  said  he  gave  up 
his  life  as  a  ransom  for  many.  Therefore,  upon  the  very  dark- 
est page  of  the  history  of  the  nations,  the  name  of  Jesus 
shines  as  a  star. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  105 

RUDOLF    STIER. 

[The  Words  of  the  Lord  Jesus.     Edinburgh:    1870.     Preface,  p.  8.] 

That  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  the  Son  of  God,  came  in  the 
flesh,  did  in  his  generation  so  hve,  so  teach,  so  suffer,  so  die, 
so  rise  again,  as  the  four  EvangeHsts  with  all  their  differences 
unite  perfectly  in  relating,  is  a  truth  attested  to  be  the  most 
certain  of  all  truths  by  the  whole  history  of  the  world  before 
him  and  since,  by  Israel's  permanence  among  the  nations,  as 
well  as  the  continuance  of  Christianity  itself.  The  entire 
mystery  of  all  history  finds  in  this  its  centre  and  only  solution. 
Similarly,  the  longing  and  seeking  of  every  man's  inner  spirit 
finds  here  its  simple  fulfilment  and  answer,  —  here,  where  all 
the  lines  so  wonderfully  converge,  and  every  thing  signifi- 
cantly tells  us  that  the  revelation  of  the  Divine  penetrates  all 
human  individuality.  Simply  to  accept  this,  is  no  false 
simplicity,  but  the  highest  wisdom,  which,  reverently  hearken- 
ing in  the  obedience  of  faith  to  the  Eternal  Wisdom,  is 
rewarded  by  the  right  perception  of  the  truth  which  is  unto 
salvation. 


SAMUEL    TAYLOR    COLERIDGE. 

[Aids  to  Reflection.     New  York:   1850.     Pp.  150,  288,  2C)r.]  * 

Christianity  is  not  a  theory  or  a  speculation,  but  a  life  ; 
not  a  philosophy  of  life,  but  a  life  and  a  living  process.  Try 
it.  It  has  been  eighteen  hundred  years  in  existence :  and  has 
one  individual  left  a  record  like  the  following  ?  "I  tried  it, 
and  it  did  not  answer.  I  made  the  experiment  faithfully, 
according  to  the  directions ;  and  the  result  has  been  a 
conviction  of  my  own  credulity."  Have  you,  in  your  own 
experience,  met  with  any  one  in  whose  words  you  could  place 
full  confidence,  and  who  has  seriously  affirmed :  "  I  have 
given  Christianity  a  fair  trial.  I  was  aware  that  its  promises 
were  made  only  conditionally  ;  but  my  heart  bears  me  witness, 


I06  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

that  I  have  to  the  utmost  of  my  power  comphed  with  these 
conditions.  Both  outw^ardly,  and  in  the  discipHne  of  my 
inward  acts  and  affections,  I  have  performed  the  duties 
which  it  enjoins,  and  I  have  used  the  means  which  it 
prescribes.  Yet  my  assurance  of  its  truth  has  received  no 
increase.  Its  promises  have  not  been  fulfilled  ;  and  I  repent 
me  of  the  delusion  "  ? 

If  neither  your  own  experience,  nor  the  history  of  almost 
two  thousand  years,  has  presented  a  single  testimon)'  to  this 
purport,  and  if  you  have  read  and  heard  of  many  w^ho  have 
lived  and  died  bearing  witness  to  the  contrary :  and  if  you 
have  yourself  met  with  some  one,  in  whom  on  any  other  point 
you  would  place  unqualified  trust,  who  has  on  his  own  expe- 
rience made  report  to  you,  that  he  is  faithful  who  promised, 
and  what  he  promised  he  has  proved  himself  able  to  perform : 
is  it  bigotry  if  I  fear  that  the  unbelief,  which  prejudices  and 
prevents  the  experiment,  has  its  source  elsewhere  than  in  the 
uncorrupted  judgment;  that  not  the  strong  free  mind,  but  the 
enslaved  will,  is  the  true  original  infidel  in  this  instance  ?  It 
would  not  be  the  first  time  that  a  treacherous  bosom-sin  had 
suborned  the  understanding  of  men  to  bear  false  witness 
against  its  avowed  enemy,  the  right  though  unreceived  owner 
of  the  house,  who  had  long  warned  it  out,  and  waited  only  for 
its  ejection  to  enter  and  take  possession  of  the  same. 

It  is  neither  the  outward  ceremony  of  baptism,  under  any 
form  of  circumstances,  nor  any  other  ceremony,  but  such  a 
faith  in  Christ  as  tends  to  produce  a  conformity  to  his  holy 
doctrines  and  example  in  heart  and  life,  and  which  faith  is 
itself  a  declared  mean  and  condition  of  our  partaking  of  his 
spiritual  body,  and  of  being  clothed  upon  with  his  righteous- 
ness, —  that  properly  makes  us  Christians,  and  can  alone  be 
enjoined  as  an  article  of  faith  necessary  to  salvation.  In  the 
strictest  sense  of  essential,  this  alone  is  the  essential  in  Chris- 
tianit)',  that  the  same  spirit  should  be  growing  in  us  which  was 
in  th(.'  fulness  of  all  perfection  in  Christ  I(?sus. 

One  ol  tlu;  purposes  of  baptism  was  to  mark  out,  for  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  107 

Church  itself,  those  that  were  entitled  to  that  especial  clear- 
ness, that  watchful  and  disciplinary  love  and  loving-kindness, 
which,  over  and  above  the  affections  and  duties  of  philan- 
thropy and  universal  charity,  Christ  himself  hath  enjoined, 
and  with  an  emphasis  and  in  a  form  significant  of  its  great 
and  especial  importance,  —  ''A  new  commandment  I  give 
unto  you,  that  ye  love  one  another^  By  a  charity  wide  as 
sunshine,  and  comprehending  the  whole  human  race,  the  body 
of  Christians  was  to  be  placed  in  contrast  with  the  proverbial 
misanthropy  and  bigotry  of  the  Jewish  Church  and  people, 
while  yet  they  were  to  be  distinguished  and  known  to  all  men, 
by  the  peculiar  love  and  affection  displayed  by  them  towards 
the  members  of  their  own  community ;  thus  exhibiting  the 
intensity  of  sectarian  attachment,  yet,  by  the  no  less  notorious 
and  exemplary  practice  of  the  duties  of  universal  benevolence, 
secured  from  the  charge  so  commonly  brought  against  it,  of 
being  narrow  and  exclusive. 


KARL    ULLMANN. 

[The  Sinlessness  of  Jesus.     Edinburgh  :  1858.     Pp.  77,  78,  229,  230.] 

The  character  of  the  Lord  Jesus  presents  to  us  the 
harmony  of  a  life  which,  in  action  as  well  as  in  suffering,  was 
equally  penetrated  with  the  Spirit  of  God,  which  had  its  source 
in  the  perfect  love  of  God,  and  realized  itself  in  the  highest 
love  to  man,  and  in  an  entire  self-sacrifice  for  the  salvation 
of  the  human  race.  In  a  word,  it  was  the  love  of  God  mani- 
fested in  a  form  purely  human.  Now,  the  idea  of  such  a 
being  as  this  excludes  the  possibility  of  sin  ;  for  sin,  which 
is  in  its  very  nature  antagonistic  to  God,  can  find  no  place 
where  selfishness,  which  is  its  essence  and  principle,  is  utterly 
abolished  by  the  full  energy  of  love  to  God  and  man. 

Unquestionably  the  moral  image  of  Jesus,  even  if  regarded 
as  nothing  more  than  an  idea,  is  the  noblest  and  dearest 
possession    of  humanity ;    a    thing   for  which    a    man   might 


^ 


I08  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

surely  be  willing  to  live  or  die.  For  this  idea  is  the  noblest 
to  which,  in  religfion  or  morals,  the  mind  of  man  has  ever 
attained.  It  is  the  crown  and  glor}^  of  the  race  ;  it  is  the  holy 
place  in  which  the  moral  consciousness  may  find  refuge  from 
the  corruption  of  every-day  life.  .  .  . 

When  we  endeavor  to  bring  before  our  minds  the  image 
of  the  personality  of  Jesus  in  direct  connection  wdth  the  influ- 
ences and  works  which  originated  in  him,  three  things  strike 
us  as  peculiar.  These  three  things  may  be  summed  up  in  the 
words,  —  unlimited  perfection,  unapproachable  dignity,  and 
unconditioned  power  of  action.  The  character  of  Jesus  is  so 
constituted  that  we  cannot  take  away  one  single  trait  from  it, 
or  add  one  to  it,  without  at  once  being  sensible  that  we  have 
not  only  altered  but  disfigured  it. 

He  includes  in  himself  in  fact,  all  perfection  ;  and  along 
with  the  highest  energy,  and  an  inexhaustible  fulness  of  life, 
there  is  a  harmony  so  perfect  that  w^e  are  compelled  to 
exclaim,  "  Here  no  improvement  can  be  made  by  the  loftiest 
idealizing  ;  for  the  ideal  itself  has  become  real,  and  the  life 
itself  is  stamped  with  the  seal  of  perfection."  In  its  perfection 
we  feel,  moreover,  that  something  attaches  to  the  person  of 
Jesus,  which  our  thoughts  and  words  are  incapable  of  grasping. 

Art  has  striven  in  vain  to  find  an  adequate  expression  for 
the  image  of  Christ ;  and  so  to  describe  the  spiritual  nature 
and  character  in  language,  is  a  task  which  never  has  been  and 
never  will  be  accomplished  to  our  complete  satisfaction.  W'e 
feel,  even,  that  he  is  possessed  of  a  dignity  which  is  unap- 
proachable by  man  ;  of  a  fulness,  which,  the  more  we  draw 
from  it,  the  greater  do  its  treasures  appear.  This  is  perceived, 
not  only  by  separate  individuals.  l)ut  by  humanity  as  a  wliole. 
The  higher  and  truer  the  life  of  an  indixidual  becomes,  the 
more  clearly  does  he  discern  and  realize  the  image  of  Jesus  ; 
and  at  every  new  step  in  the  development  of  humanity  the 
form  of  th(;  Nazarene  is  illuminated  by  a  fuller  light.  At 
the  same  time  there  is  a  distinct  consciousness  that  it  is  not 
the  image:  of  Christ  which  increases  by  means  of  us.  but  that 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  109 

we,   by  living  more   deeply  into   it,  grow   in   our  capacity  of 
understanding  it. 

And  however  nearly  we  may  approximate  toward  him,  we 
always  feel  that  he  towers  above  us,  at  a  height  to  which  no 
man  will  ever  be  able  fully  to  rise  ;  that  there  is  a  distance 
between  him  and  us  which  none  can  traverse.  This  eminence 
of  Jesus  is  further  evidenced  by  his  unbounded  influence  over 
the  sons  of  men.  The  image  of  the  serene  and  holy  One  of 
Golgotha  sinks  to  the  very  depths  of  the  heart,  and  presents 
itself  before  the  soul,  —  sometimes  as  a  consciousness  of  sin 
and  evil,  at  other  times  like  a  word  of  consolation  coming 
directly  from  our  compassionate  God.  And  whilst  its  influ- 
ence is  thus  felt  in  our  own  inmost  life,  it  is  no  less  percepti- 
ble in  the  ordinary  course  of  the  history  of  mankind.  The 
traces  there  are  alike  notorious  and  indelible  ;  and  the  whole 
development  of  humanity,  especially  in  its  highest  aspects, 
would  be  inexplicable,  apart  from  the  recognition  of  the 
presence  of  such  a  power.  We  can  conceive  it  to  be  possible 
that  all  the  great  men  of  history  should  pass  into  utter  obliv- 
ion ;  but  we  must  hold  it  to  be  impossible  that  the  memory 
of  this  image  should  depart,  because  it  has  become  part  and 
parcel  of  the  inmost  and  truest  life  of  humanity. 


KARL   AUGUST    HASE. 

[Life  of  Jesus.     Boston:  i860.     Pp.  16,57,  121,  131,  139.] 

The  fact  that  Jesus  left  nothing  behind  in  writing  stands 
related  with  the  character  of  his  whole  life  and  influence,  as 
something  present  and  immediate,  and  with  the  nature  of 
original  Christianity.  For  the  object  of  Christianity  was  not 
to  be  a  system  of  opinions,  but  a  new  life  and  a  new  commu- 
nity. Therefore  Jesus  commands  his  Gospel  to  be  preached, 
and  did  not  command  it  to  be  written  down.  .  .   . 

Every  attempt  to  give  the  character  of  Jesus  runs  the 
risk  of  becoming  a  merely  personified  system  of  morals  or 


I  lO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

psychology,  and  of  resulting  in  a  superficial  enumeration  of  all 
possible  virtues  and  qualities.  For  to  the  ideal  of  humanity, 
as  to  that  of  Deity,  it  is  essential  to  have  no  sharply  marked 
features,  but  a  beautiful  combination  of  all  powers.  Quick 
susceptibilities,  and  depth  of  feeling,  appear  as  characteristic 
traits  of  Jesus  ;  yet  even  these  may  belong  to  the  Gospel  man- 
ner of  description.  This  advantage  at  least,  therefore,  may 
belong  to  a  biography  of  Jesus :  that  instead  of  an  abstract 
analysis  of  his  character,  it  may  follow  the  example  of  John 
in  making  a  concrete  and  living  picture  of  his  inmost  soul,  as 
expressed  in  words  and  deeds. 

This  character  appears  fully  rounded  even  at  the  beginning 
of  his  public  life.  It  is  essentially  an  entire  love  of  God 
manifested  in  the  purest  humanity.  History  has  greater 
examples  of  the  energy  of  single  virtues  and  qualities  ;  but  in 
this  Jesus  stands  alone,  that  every  virtue,  so  far  as  it  was 
possible  to  manifest  it  in  his  work,  appears  in  full  harmony 
and  concord  with  every  other,  and  includes  what  in  other  cases 
a  one-sided  development  has  excluded.   .   .   . 

By  calling  the  publican  to  be  an  apostle,  Jesus  defended, 
in  opposition  to  the  assumed  superiority  of  the  Pharisees,  his 
mission  to  the  whole  debased  part  of  humanity.  By  the  same 
act  he  opposed  to  the  rigor  and  eternal  strictness  of  the 
disciples  of  John,  the  free  and  joyful  spirit  of  his  doctrine, 
which  would  not  suffer  limitation  on  the  one  hand  by  arbitrary 
human  maxims,  and  yet,  on  the  other  hand,  was  ready  to 
judge  the  errors  of  others  in  the  mildest  way. 

ThouMi  fastino-  was  a  custom  belonofincf  to  the  national 
morals,  the  Master  did  not  cause  his  disciples  to  fast.  Not 
that  he  wholly  rejected  such  practices ;  but  that  he  wished 
them  to  be  kept  for  the  hour  of  real  need,  and  then  to  be 
veiled  in  the  secret  of  a  smiling  face.  He  took  the  most 
joyous  moment  of  earthly  gayety  as  symbol  of  the  highest 
communion.  No  religious  hero  was  ever  less  afraid  of  the 
joys  of  this  life  than  was  Jesus.   .   .   . 

The  immediate  work  of  Jesus  was  not  to  teach  a  doctrine, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 1 1 

but  to  found  a  kingdom,  which  should  be  a  community  for 
the  reHgious  culture  of  universal  humanity.  But  since  this 
community  was  based  on  the  knowledge  of  religious  truth, 
and  opposition  to  its  antagonist  errors,  it  became  an  essential 
part  of  his  work  to  teach.  His  doctrine  is  the  communication 
of  the  insights  of  a  perfectly  pious  soul,  with  the  purpose  of 
laying  the  foundation  of  a  pious  community.  The  pious  soul 
is  as  old  as  humanity,  and  we  accordingly  find  among  the 
ancients  many  sayings  parallel  to  the  separate  sayings  of 
Jesus.  But  we  never  find  anywhere  that  complete  insight  and 
that  perfection  of  character  from  which  these  proceeded.  .  .  . 
Since  Jesus  recognized  himself  as  the  Messiah,  he  was 
divinely  sent  in  the  highest  national  meaning  of  the  phrase  ; 
and  since  he  made  God's  order  of  the  world  his  own,  he  was 
himself  divine  in  the  highest  religious  meaning  of  the  term. 
When  he  says  that  his  doctrine  was  not  his  own,  but  that  of 
his  Father,  he  opposes  the  conjecture  that  he  might  have 
learned  it  from  another,  or  thought  it  out  for  himself.  And 
thus  the  difficulty  explains  itself.  The  divine  consciousness, 
in  Jesus,  is  an  original  revelation  which  God  makes  of  himself 
in  the  experience  of  his  Son.  Therefore  Christ,  as  the 
archetype  of  man's  religious  nature,  not  only  brought  a 
revelation,  but  was  himself  a  revelation.  All  true  religion 
is  revelation,  for  only  God  can  convey  a  true  knowledge  of 
himself  to  the  human  heart.  Therefore  Jesus  appealed  to 
each  man's  experience  for  proof  that  his  word  was  from  God, 
and  knew  that  whoever  loved  the  truth  and  was  of  God  would 
be  drawn  to  him. 


JOHN    R.    BEARD. 


[The  Moral  Argument  for  the  Gospels.     From  Voices   of  the  Church. 
London:  1845.     Pp- 303-305-] 

With  one  consentient  voice,  all  the  writers  of  the  New 
Testament  declare  the  divinity  of  the  Christian  religion,  as 
embodied    in   the   life   and  teachings  of   its  Founder.     Vary 


112  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

as  they  may  on  minor  points,  and  vary  as  they  do  in  the 
manner  and  the  phraseology  in  which  they  set  forth  the  fact, 
they  unite  in  one  grand  testimony  respecting  the  divine 
origin  of  what  the  Saviour  was.  did,  and  taught. 

Let  all  the  miracles  of  the  New  Testament  be  explained 
away  or  exploded  or  denied,  the  great  miracle  still  remains  : 
we  mean  the  character  of  Christ.  There  is  a  fact  with  which  we 
must  deal,  since  it  cannot  be  denied  or  evaded  or  expunged. 
Jesus  was,  and  Jesus  is.  The  essential  features  of  his  char- 
acter are  written  down  in  the  New  Testament  in  a  way  to 
admit  of  no  dispute  ;  as,  indeed,  no  dispute  worthy  of  notice 
has  ever  been  raised  about  them.  Whatever  else  the  Gospels 
may  be  supposed  to  fail  in,  they  have  handed  down  to  us,  in 
broad  and  deep  relief,  the  image  and  superscription  of  our 
Lord  ;  and  far  more  —  more  in  minute  detail,  more  in  general 
amount,  more  incomparably  in  impression  —  do  we  know,  may 
the  simplest  Christian  know,  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity, 
than  is  known  by  the  most  learned  of  any  other  personage 
of  antiquity. 

Confessedly,  in  his  moral  relations,  Jesus  stands  at  the 
head  of  humanity.  His  rule  of  right  was  perfect  not  only  in 
regard  to  the  time  in  which  he  appeared,  but  also  to  the  high- 
est attainments  which  a  progressive  civilization  has  been  able 
to  achieve.  Equally  perfect  and  entire  was  his  fidelity  to  that 
rule,  so  that  his  life  was  only  the  simple  but  energetic  expres- 
sion of  his  convictions. 

Pure,  however,  as  he  himself  was.  he  had  the  tenderest 
pity  for  the  impure.  With  no  fear  that  the  lustre  of  his 
virtue  would  be  sullied  by  the  foulness  of  others,  he  ate  and 
drank  with  sinners,  in  order  to  win  them  from  the  error  of 
their  way ;  and  thus,  far  from  remaining  satishetl  with  the 
delights  which  spring  from  pure  affections,  he  used  his  virtues 
as  instruments  for  advancing  the  good  of  6thers. 

His  ])iety  was  not  an  impulse,  not  a  devotional  excitability, 
but  a  habit  of  the  soul,  a  moving  power  within  him,  no  less 
steady  than  perpetuated  and  intense,  enabling  him  to  realize 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  1 1 3 

the  constant  presence  of  God,  and  making  his  whole  Hfe  one 
act  of  obedience  and  devotion.  There  is,  indeed,  no  virtue 
which  Jesus  did  not  possess.  Nay,  he  exhibited  every  possi- 
ble excellence,  carried  to  the  highest  degree  of  perfection. 
It  is  not  that  he  surpasses  ordinary  men  in  any  one  quality, 
but  in  all. 


CHRISTOPH    JOHANNES    RIGGENBACH. 

[Foundations  of  Our  Faith.     London:  1867.     Pp.  116-11S,  120,  12S,  129.] 

The  whole  character  of  Jesus  is  far  removed  from  any 
thing  of  calculation,  any  thing  put  on,  constrained,  artificial. 
Word  and  deed  are  alike  simple  and  majestic.  He  is  most 
acute  and  precise  in  his  appeal  to  conscience  :  he  discovers 
the  very  ground  of  the  heart,  for  he  thoroughly  knows  sinners 
in  their  sins,  and  rebukes  them  for  their  good.  And  yet,  for 
all  his  keen  insight,  he  is  no  despiser  of  men,  but  very  pitiful 
towards  them.  What  tender  love  he  has  for  the  degraded 
woman  of  Samaria  ;  for  her  who  anointed  his  feet,  being  a 
sinner ;  for  the  fallen  disciple  who  denied  him  ;  for  Jerusalem 
that  rejected  him  !  He  is  moved  with  compassion  for  the 
sheep  that  have  no  shepherd.  "  Father,  forgive  them  :  "  this 
is  the  breath  of  his  whole  life.  Meekness  and  humility,  grace 
and  truth,  make  up  his  being :  this  was  the  impression 
received  by  susceptible  hearts,  and  there  was  not  a  passage 
in  his  life  to  disturb  that  impression. 

And  this  experience  they  have  handed  down  to  us  in  a 
representation  that  testifies  to  its  own  faithfulness.  Whence 
could  they  have  derived  it,  if  they  had  not  seen  and  known  it  ? 
In  such  a  case  they  must  have  drawn  the  idea  from  them- 
selves, their  inward  views,  their  own  actual  character.  But 
do  men  afford  such  an  example  of  spotless  purity  as  this  ? 
Our  conscience,  indeed,  may  demand  it;  but  who  that  looks 
within  finds  there  the  fulfilment  of  conscience'  demands  ? 
Wliat  poet  or  historian,  ever  before  or  after,  sketched  so 
perfect  a  form  ?     True,  Xenophon  says,  speaking  of  his  noble 


114  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

master  Socrates,  "  No  one  ever  saw  Socrates  do,  or  heard 
him  say,  any  thing  that  was  irrehgious  or  unholy."  But  how 
external  and  low  was  the  standard  of  holiness  among  the 
Greeks,  compared  to  that  of  the  Evangelists  ! 

We  repeat  it :  a  description  such  as  that  of  the  holy 
character  of  Jesus  is  without  parallel  ;  so  spotlessly  pure,  and 

—  let  us  observe  this  well  —  at  the  same  time  time  so  lifelike, 
so  true  to  nature,  so  individually  personified,  that  no  human 
imagination  could  ever  have  created  it.  What  should  we  men 
do  if  we  sought  from  our  own  resources  to  draw  the  imasfe 
of  a  sinless  man  ?  Why,  we  should  harp  upon  his  sinlessness, 
we  should  insist  upon  his  freedom  from  this  sin  and  that  sin, 
and  we  should  heap  superlatives  of  virtue  and  excellence  one 
on  the  other.  But  to  produce  a  living,  personal,  individual 
character  such  as  that  of  our  Lord  in  the  Gospels  allowedly  is, 
and,  moreover,  to  invent  a  history  in  which  this  personality 
should  be  retained  thoughout  most  widely  varying  circum- 
stances, and  to  do  all  this  simply,  naturally,  plainly,  grandly, 

—  this  were  beyond  the  reach  of  the  greatest  poet.  This, 
however,  the  Evangelists  have  done.  They  have  done  it  art- 
lessly, without  being  highly  gifted  poets;  they  have  done  it 
so  that  misapprehension  may  stumble  at  much,  till,  further 
light  breaking  in  upon  the  mind,  each  stumbling-block  is  seen 
to  be  a  fresh  trait  of  moral  grandeur ;  they  have  done  it  so 
as  not  to  conceal  froni  us  how  much  there  was  in  his  charac- 
ter which  contradicted  their  pre-conceptions  of  legal  piety,  and 
of  what  became  the  Messiah  ;  they  have  done  it,  have  been 
able  to  do  it,  in  short,  because  they  speak  of  that  which  they 
have  seen  and  heard  and  experienced.  .  .   . 

However  clear  and  correct  the  insight  of  Jesus  into  the 
sinfulness  of  the  human  heart,  we  never  hear  from  him  an 
admission  of  personal  consciousness  of  sin.  In  none  of  his 
prayers  does  he  ever  humble  himself,  and  implore  mercy  ; 
whereas  it  is  in  the  most  distinguished  saints  that  we  meet 
with  the  deepest  convictions  of  natural  corruption,  the 
strongest  statements  of  guilt,  the  most  striking  expressions 


1 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  II5 

of  self-accusation.  But  in  all  his  expressions  concerning 
himself,  Jesus  invariably  appears  holy,  undefiled,  and  separate 
from  sinners.   .   .   . 

This,  then,  is  how  the  general  question  stands.  We  see 
that  it  is  in  vain  to  do  away  with,  in  vain  to  cut  short,  in  vain 
to  exclude  this  or  that  passage  ;  for  the  doctrine  runs  alike 
through  every  phase  of  the  Gospels. 

The  same  Jesus,  then,  who  makes  upon  us  such  an  impres- 
sion of  perfect  candor  and  gentleness,  meekness  and  humility, 
wisdom  and  holiness,  —  the  same  Jesus  who  "  created  a  moral 
ideal  in  the  conscience  of  humanity,  and  embalmed  it  in  his 
life,  so  that  whoever  would  acknowledge  or  practise  what  is 
good  must  ever  keep  returning  afresh  to  the  word  and  image 
of  Jesus,"  —  this  same  Jesus  has  claimed  divine  majesty,  divine 
power,  divine  nature.  And  were,  then,  all  these  claims  false? 
Was  he  either  a  crazy  enthusiast  or  a  blasphemous  liar? 
Could  such  impious  deceit  as  this  proceed  from  the  lips  of 
him  who  did  no  sin  ? 


FREDERICK    WILLIAM    FABER. 

[Bethlehem.     Baltimore:  i860.     Pp.  11,  51.] 

Jesus  Christ  yesterday  and  to-day,  and  the  same,  forever ! 
These  words  of  the  Apostle  express  at  once  the  noblest  and 
most  delightful  occupation  of  our  lives.  To  think,  to  speak, 
to  write  perpetually  of  the  grandeurs  of  Jesus,  —  what  joy  on 
earth  is  like  it,  when  we  think  of  what  we  owe  to  him,  and 
of  the  relation  in  which  we  stand  to  him  ?  Who  can  weary 
of  it  ?  The  subject  is  continually  growing  before  our  eyes. 
It  draws  us  on.  It  is  a  science,  the  fascination  of  which 
increases  the  more  deeply  we  penetrate  into  its  depths.  That 
which  is  to  be  our  occupation  in  eternity  usurps  more  and 
more  with  sweet  encroachment  the  length  and  breadth  of 
time.  Earth  orrows  into  heaven,  as  we  come  to  live  and 
breathe  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  Incarnation. 


Il6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

The  Incarnation  lies  at  the  bottom  of  all  sciences,  and  is 
their  ultimate  explanation.  It  is  the  secret  beauty  in  all  arts. 
It  is  the  completeness  of  all  philosophies.  It  is  the  point  of 
arrival  and  departure  to  all  history.  The  destinies  of  nations, 
as  well  as  of  individuals,  group  themselves  around  it.  It 
purifies  all  happiness,  and  glorifies  all  sorrow.  It  is  the  cause 
of  all  we  see,  and  the  pledge  of  all  we  hope  for.  It  is  the 
great  central  fact,  both  of  life  and  immortality,  out  of  sight 
of  which  man's  intellect  wanders  in  the  darkness,  and  the 
light  of  a  divine  life  falls  not  on  his  footsteps. 


HERMANN    OLSHAUSEN. 

[The  Last  Days  of  the  Saviour.     Pp.  lo,  14.] 

Although  Jesus  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head,  he  still 
ruled  as  Prophet  and  King.  He  spake  as  never  man  spake  ; 
he  commanded  the  hearts  of  his  followers,  and  reigned  in  the 
midst  of  his  enemies,  who,  held  by  the  viewless  bands  of 
the  Spirit,  could  not  limit  the  broad  compass  of  his  activity. 
He  exercised  unlimited  power  over  the  force  of  nature,  ruled 
the  storm,  walked  over  the  waves  of  the  sea,  fed  thousands 
with  a  few  loaves,  healed  the  sick,  cast  out  evil  spirits.  But 
in  the  last  days  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage,  this  radiant  glory, 
which  surrounded  him,  vanishes  altogether.  His  speech,  alike 
gentle  and  powerful,  is  silent  before  the  multitude  of  hearers 
whom  he  had  addressed  in  vain.  Jesus  confines  himself  to 
the  little  company  of  his  disciples,  and  strives  to  plant  in  their 
hearts  the  undying  germ  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  His 
glorious  miracles  cease ;  every  thing  brilliant,  every  thing 
extraordinary,  vanishes  ;  the  poverty  and  lowliness  of  the  outer 
being  reached  inward  through  the  whole  soul ;  he  sinks,  as  it 
were,  step  by  step,  into  deepest  humiliation.  The  eye  awake 
to  the  conception  of  true  majesty  and  beauty  readily  sees,  in 
this  utter  uncomeliness,  the  secret  glory  of  the  heavenly  image 
beaming  through  the  more  purely  and  clearly.     Although  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  II7 

active  virtues  shine  the  stronger,  yet  the  passive  ones  are  truly 
greater,  and  the  harder  to  exercise.  These  have  their  perfect 
work  in  Christ ;  the  record  of  his  sufferings  breathes  but  a 
heavenly  forbearance,  gentleness,  patience. 

While  it  is  the  most  exalted  office  of  an  earthly  sage,  to 
be  a  genuine  inquirer  after  truth,  Christ  himself  is  the  actual 
truth,  which  the  former  seeks.  All  the  rays  of  shining  virtues, 
which  have  appeared  in  all  the  earthly  champions  and  suffer- 
ers for  truth  and  right,  are  united  in  him  as  in  the  sun,  and 
melted  into  an  unutterable  unity. 


EDMOND    DE   PRESSENSE. 

[The  Religions  before  Christ.     Edinburgh  :  1S62.     Pp.  246,  254,  257.] 

If  Jesus  Christ  be  but  the  sublimest  of  teachers,  or  the 
greatest  of  prophets,  there  is  no  essential  difference  between 
him  and  Socrates  or  Isaiah.  What  constitutes  the  grand 
originality  of  his  work  is,  that  he  gives  all  that  his  precursors 
promised  or  hoped  for ;  and  did  not  merely  bear  witness  to 
the  truth,  but  was  empowered  to  say,  with  that  calm  assurance 
that  carried  with  it  such  weight  of  moral  authority,  "  I  am  the 
truth."   .   .   . 

It  sufficed  to  have  seen  and  heard  him,  to  feel  the  power 
of  that  irresistible  attraction.  There  was  in  him  such  gentle- 
ness and  purity,  in  his  words  such  authority  and  power,  a 
something  so  consoling  and  celestial  was  diffused  through 
his  whole  person,  that  all  honest  hearts  felt  themselves  at 
once  penetrated  by  sympathy  blended  with  tenderness  and 
adoration.  A  divine  virtue  surrounded  him  like  a  halo  ;  he 
was  felt  to  be  as  powerful  as  he  was  compassionate  ;  as  able 
to  deliver  as  he  was  to  console  ;  and,  amid  all  his  miracles, 
there  was  the  presentiment  of  a  still  greater,  that  which  all 
the  others  announced  and  prefigured,  —  the  restoration  by 
love  of  the  human  race.   .   .   . 

Wliether   he    argues    with    his    adversaries,    whether   he 


Il8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

announces  the  Gospel  to  the  people,  whether  he  explains  his 
parables  to  his  disciples,  or  withdraws  to  the  desert  or  the 
mountain,  he  is  always  pre-eminently  the  Righteous  One. 
the  Saint  of  saints,  whom  sin  never  even  touches,  —  he  is 
Divine  Love  personified. 


JOHN   JACOB   VAN    OOSTERZEE. 

[Christian  Dogmatics.     New  York:  1874.     Vol.  ii.  pp.  504,534.] 

It  can  surprise  no  one,  that  we  thus  at  large  defend  the 
doctrine,  nay  the  Jact,  of  the  Lord's  sinlessness,  against  all 
opposition.  For  the  importance  of  the  subject  very  soon 
becomes  manifest  to  us,  whether  we  connect  it  with  the 
doctrine  of  revelation,  or  with  that  of  redemption  in  Christ, 
As  concerns  the  former,  precisely  the  absolute  sinlessness  of 
the  Lord  authorizes  our  unreservedly  believing  his  word,  and 
seeing  in  his  person  nothing  less  than  the  image  of  the  Father 
manifest  in  human  form.  Sin  and  the  lie  are,  in  the  language 
of  the  New  Testament,  and  from  the  nature  of  the  case, 
correlative  ideas  ;  and  on  no  one  can  we  more  certainly  rely 
as  having  spoken  the  truth,  than  upon  him  who  beheld  it  with 
absolutely  unclouded  eye,  and,  moreover,  never  sought  his 
own  honor. 

Now  we  know  that  he  who  sees  him  has  seen  the  Father, 
since  no  troubled  sea  can  thus  clearly  reflect  the  image  of  the 
sun  in  the  firmament.  He  does  not  merel)'  s})eak  the  truth, 
but  he  is  the  truth,  precisely  because  he  has  and  is  the  life, 
interrupted  by  no  power  of  sin.  And  as  concerns  the  doctrine 
of  redemption,  the  sinlessness  of  the  Lord  serves,  more  than 
any  thing  else,  as  a  guaranty  that  he  voluntarily  laid  down 
his  lile,  actuated  by  no  other  principle  than  that  of  perfect 
obedience  and  love. 

Precisely  because  he  was  truly  man,  could  he  enter  into 
our  wants  and  nece.ssities.  No  deliverance  of  the  sinful  world, 
as  we  shall  soon  see,  was  possible,  unless  he  from  whom  it  was 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  I  1 9 

to  proceed  should  descend  into  our  depths  to  raise  us  to  his 
height.  Only  as  truly  man  could  the  Son  of  God  be  the 
highest  revelation  of  the  Father,  in  the  nature  most  highly 
developed  and  the  one  best  known  to  us  here  below.  Only 
thus  could  he  suffer  and  die,  have  sympathy  with  our  infirmi- 
ties, and  raise  his  people  to  the  highest  degree  of  glory  and 
blessedness. 

As  man,  yet  only  as  spotless  man.  Show  me  a  single 
moral  blemish  in  Christ,  and  the  world's  Physician  of  souls 
will  himself  require  a  healer.  But  it  is  precisely  the  moral 
perfection  of  this  personality,  that  he  never  forgets  himself, 
and  thus,  also,  never  needs  to  recall  his  words  and  actions. 
"The  Redeemer,"  to  use  the  words  of  Rothe,  "never  needs 
to  do  a  thing  twice,  in  order,  morally,  to  learn  it  in  the  widest 
sense  of  the  term."  Every  moment  is  he  equally  certain  with 
regard  to  himself,  as  with  regard  to  the  Father;  and  on  that 
account  have  we  perfect  confidence  fully  to  rely  for  our 
salvation  upon  his  word  and  work.  And  thus  his  person  is 
for  us  God's  highest  revelation,  his  life  the  highest  ideal,  and 
his  death,  out  of  perfect  obedience  and  love,  a  sacrifice  of 
inestimable  value. 


RICHARD    CHENEVIX   TRENCH. 

[Christ  the  Desire  of  All  Nations.     Philadelphia:  1S54.     Pp.  141,  155,  239.] 

What  do  we  afTfirm  of  Christ  ?  When  do  we  conceive 
worthily  of  him  ?  When  we  conceive  of  him  in  the  prophet's 
words  as  "the  Desire  of  all  nations,"  —  the  fulfiller  of  the 
world's  hopes,  the  stiller  of  creation's  groans,  —  the  great  birth 
of  time,  unto  which  all  the  unspeakable  throes  of  a  suffering 
humanity  had  been  tending  from  the  first.  We  do  not  believe 
the  peculiar  glory  of  what  in  Christ  we  possess  to  consist  in 
this,  that  it  is  unlike  everv  thinor  else,  —  "  the  cold  denial  and 
contradiction  of  all  that  men  have  been  dreamine  of  through 
the  different  ages  of  the  world,  —  but  rather  the  sweet  recon- 


I20  TESTIMOXY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

ciliation  and  exquisite  harmony  of  all  past  thoughts,  anticipa- 
tions, revelations."  Its  prerogative  is,  that  all  whereof  men 
had  a  troubled  dream  before  did  in  him  become  a  waking 
reality  ;  that  what  men  were  devising,  and  most  inadequately, 
for  themselves,  God  had  perfectly  given  us  in  his  Son  ;  that 
in  the  room  of  shifting  cloud-palaces,  with  their  mockery  of 
temple  and  tower,  stands  for  us  a  city  which  hath  come  down 
from  heaven,  but  whose  foundations  rest  upon  this  earth 
of  ours  ;  that  we  have  divine  facts,  — facts,  which  no  doubt 
are  ideal,  in  that  they  are  the  vehicle  of  eternal  truths ;  his- 
tory, indeed,  which  is  far  more  than  history,  for  it  embodies 
the  largest  and  most  continually  recurring  thoughts  which 
have  stirred  the  bosom  of  humanity  from  the  beginning. 
We  say  that  the  divine  ideas,  which  had  wandered  up  and 
down  the  world  till  oftentimes  they  had  well-nigh  forgotten 
themselves  and  their  own  oriofin,  did  at  length  clothe  them- 
selves  in  flesh  and  blood  ;  they  became  incarnate  with  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Son  of  God.  In  his  life  and  person  the 
idea  and  the  fact  at  length  kissed  each  other,  and  were 
henceforth  wedded  forevermore. 

There  is  a  natural  grravitation  of  souls,  which  attracts  them 
to  mighty  personalities  ;  an  instinct  in  man,  which  tells  him 
that  he  is  never  so  great  as  when  looking  up  to  one  greater 
than  himself ;  that  he  is  made  for  this  looking  upward, —  to 
find,  and,  finding,  to  rejoice  and  be  ennobled  in  a  nobler  than 
himself.  And  doubtless  this  instinct  in  itself  is  divine.  It  is 
the  natural  basis  on  which  the  devotion  of  mankind  to  Christ 
is  by  the  Spirit  to  be  built :  it  is  an  instinct,  which,  being 
perfectly  purified  of  each  baser  admixture,  is  intended  to  find 
its  entire  satisfaction  in  him. 

It  has  been  to  me  an  argument  for  the  truth  and  dignity 
of  his  mission  who  was  its  Author,  to  find  that  in  him  all 
fulness  dwelt,  all  lines  concentrated,  all  hopes  of  the  world 
were  accomplished.  For  surely  the  King  of  glory  shows  to 
us  more  glorious  yet  when  we  are  able  to  contemplate  him, 
not    merely    as    the    Prophet    and    Priest    and    King    of    the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  121 

Covenant,  but  as  the  satisfier  of  vaguer,  though  not  less  real, 
aspirations,  of  more  undefined  longings,  of  more  wide-spread 
hopes,  when,  looking  at  him,  we  take  note  with  the  inspired 
seer,  that  on  his  head  are  many  crowns  ;  and,  looking  at  his 
dodiHne,  that  not  Israel  only,  but  the  isles  also,  had  waited  for 
his  law. 


GEORGE    W.    BURNAP. 

Christianity,  its  Essence  and  Evidence.     Boston:  1855.     Pp.  46,  78,  86,  94. 

An  effect  must  have  a  cause  adequate  to  its  production. 
They  who  saw,  this  morning,  the  day  spread  itself  over  the 
earth  knew  that  it  was  caused  by  the  rising  of  the  sun,  because 
it  was  dark  before,  and  it  has  been  light  ever  since.  Such 
an  event  was  the  advent  of  Christ.  His  birth  spontaneously 
became  the  greatest  epoch  of  the  ages.  From  it  the  centuries 
preceding  are  compelled  to  reckon  backward  ;  from  it  the 
ages  since  are  made  to  reckon  forward.  It  is  inconceivable 
that  a  fictitious  being,  an  imaginary  creation  of  the  human 
brain,  could  produce  such  a  revolution  in  human  affairs.  The 
broad,  long  shadow  of  the  mountain  demonstrates  its  vastness. 
We  hear,  at  the  distance,  the  roar  of  the  ocean,  and  we  are 
filled  with  astonishment  and  awe.  We  arrive  at  its  shore,  and 
the  mystery  is  all  explained.  Its  mighty  bulk,  its  tall  tumbling 
waves,  as  they  thunder  upon  the  cliff,  or  break  upon  the  beach, 
reveal  to  us  the  cause  why  the  atmosphere  is  jarred  and  the 
earth  is  shaken  by  the  power  of  the  ocean  storm. 

So  we  are  disposed  to  wonder  at  the  great  changes  pro- 
duced by  Christianity  in  the  world. 

Nations  which  were  pagan  became  the  worshippers  of  the 
one  true  God.  Tribes  which  were  savage  became  civilized. 
Religious  rites  which  were  absurd  or  obscene  were  abandoned. 
Amusements  which  were  bloody,  cruel,  or  indecent,  were 
renounced.  The  frequency  and  the  atrocity  of  wars  were 
mitigated.  A  gentleness  and  a  humanity  spread  themselves 
over  all  the  relations  of  life,  which  poets  had  not  imagined ; 


122  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

and  charitable  institutions  sprang  up,  of  which  heathen 
philanthropy  had  formed  not  the  most  distant  conception. 
Whence  did  all  these  things  come  ?  Open  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  the  mystery  is  revealed.  Contemplate  the  charac- 
ter, the  doctrines,  and  the  credentials  of  Jesus,  and  you 
discover  at  a  glance  the  adequate  cause  of  this  mighty  trans- 
formation. Look  on  Christ,  the  spotless  and  undefiled. 
Behold  the  moral  miracle  of  one  in  human  form  treading  all 
the  paths  of  duty,  amidst  trial  and  temptation  before  which 
every  other  one  of  the  millions  of  our  race  has  fallen,  yet 
without  sin. 

Hear  him  speak,  as  never  man  spake,  promulgating  a 
doctrine  which  surpasses  in  wisdom  all  that  sages  have  ever 
uttered,  and  thus  develop  a  religion  which  contradicts  no  law 
of  human  nature,  lays  a  solid  basis  for  society,  and  corrects, 
so  far  as  they  can  be  corrected,  all  the  disorders  to  which 
humanity  is  subjected. 

This  wisdom  Christ  manifested  from  the  commencement 
of  his  ministry.  Whenever  he  opened  his  mouth,  it  flowed 
forth  as  from  an  inexhaustible  fountain.  Here  Christ  comes 
in  contrast  with  the  wisest  of  the  heathen  philosophers,  and 
he  as  far  transcends  them  all  as  the  meridian  sun  the  twinkling 
,  stars  of  night.  The  wisest  of  them  uttered  a  few  wise  sayings 
among  a  mass  of  errors  and  crudities  and  follies.  Every  part 
of  Christ's  discourses  surpassed  the  wisest  things  that  the 
most  eminent  of  them  ever  uttered.  God  is  revealed,  and 
brought  near ;  the  human  heart  is  searched  to  its  utmost 
recesses,  all  the  relations  of  life  laid  open,  and  the  duties 
which  grow  out  of  them  made  clear  as  the  light  of  day  ;  so 
that  no  man  can  resist  the  conviction  of  duty  which  they  carry 
hom(;  to  his  conscience. 

\\v.  ha\("  the  direct  testimony  of  his  companions  expressly 
to  the  point ;  we  have  the  general  portrait  of  his  character,  as 
exhibited  in  his  daily  life,  in  what  he  did.  in  what  he  said,  in 
what  he  forbore  to  do  and  say,  and  in  what  he  suffered. 
When  these  things  are  exhibited  to  us  in   the  simple,  ingenu- 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  123 

OILS,  and  artless  narrative  of  the  Evangelists,  we  are  able  to 
judge  for  ourselves,  and  forni  an  idea  of  his  character  almost 
as  if  we  had  been  present. 

We  have  another  source  of  evidence  in  the  impression  he 
made  on  those  about  him.  We  judge  of  the  dimensions  and 
figure  of  an  object,  not  only  by  looking  directly  at  it,  but  by 
observing  the  shadow  which  it  casts.  We  do  not  read  far  in 
the  Gospels  before  we  perceive  with  what  profound  veneration 
Jesus  was  regarded  by  his  disciples.  This,  of  course,  was  the 
natural  effect  of  what  he  really  was.  Wherever  he  went,  a 
moral  majesty  surrounded  him,  which  cast  a  spell  of  awe  on 
friend  and  foe.  And  when  we  see  him  presiding  at  the  last 
supper,  and  in  prospect  of  an  immediate  and  painful  death, 
instead  of  receiving  strength  and  encouragement  from  his 
disciples,  rising  above  the  horrors  of  that  sombre  hour,  and 
consoling  and  strengthening  his  disciples,  our  souls  are  bowed 
before  his  exalted  dignity  ;  and  we  acknowledge  the  towering 
grandeur  of  his  character.  That  dignity,  that  calmness,  that 
self-possession,  were  not  assumed,  strained,  or  artificial.  They 
were  in  him  and  of  him.  They  were  a  part  of  his  permanent 
self;  and  when  the  hour  of  trial  came,  the  wrong  of  his  unjust 
condemnation,  his  brutal  scourging,  and  his  painful  death 
upon  the  cross,  he  went  through  it  all  with  the  sublimest 
fortitude  and  the  divinest  patience. 

The  impression  left  upon  the  mind,  after  a  perusal  of  the 
Gospels,  is,  that  Jesus  formed  a  class  in  the  moral  world  by 
himself.  He  ascended  to  a  higher  sphere  than  had  ever  been 
reached  by  any  who  had  appeared  in  human  form.  To  all 
others  whom  our  hearts  reverence,  we  apply  the  terms  good- 
ness, virtue,  piety.  To  Jesus  alone  beside  the  Almighty,  we 
apply  the  term  holiness.  All  the  saints  of  old  were  imperfect. 
We  cannot  conceive  of  their  entering  heaven  by  any  other 
gate  than  that  of  repentance.  Jesus  could  enter  it  through 
the  golden  portal  of  innocence. 

But  the  holiness  of  God  and  the  holiness  of  Jesus  we 
conceive  of  as  specifically  different.     The  holiness  of  God  is 


124  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

necessary,  for  God  cannot  be  tempted.  It  is  inherent,  consti- 
tutional, immutable.  The  holiness  of  Christ  was  vohmtary, 
the  result  of  choice,  the  habitual  preference  of  good,  when 
evil  was  equally  presented,  and  freely  rejected.  The  holiness 
of  God  is  the  spontaneous  action  of  infinite  wisdom  and  infi- 
nite goodness.  The  holiness  of  Christ  was  the  conformity  of 
his  will  to  the  perfect  will  of  God.  "  Let  this  cup  pass  from 
me,"  said  he  in  an  hour  of  human  dread  of  pain  and  death. 
"  Nevertheless  not  as  I  will,  but  as  thou  wilt,"  he  added,  as 
his  soul  assumed  an  attitude  of  perfect  allegiance. 

The  character  of  Christ,  his  sinless  perfection,  may  be 
said,  perhaps,  to  be  the  most  appreciable  argument  for  the 
Christian  faith.  Its  exalted  excellence  renders  it  wholly  im- 
possible to  associate  with  him  the  idea  of  imposture  or 
enthusiasm.  He  who  was  wiser  than  the  wisest  of  our  race 
could  not  have  been  deceived  concerninor  himself;  and  he 
whose  whole  soul  was  simplicity  and  candor  could  not  have 
deceived  us  when  he  said,  "  I  am  the  wa)',  the  truth,  and  the 
life.     No  man  cometh  unto  the  Father  but  by  me." 


FRIEDRICH   A.    G.    THOLUCK. 

[Seleciions  i'ku.m  German  Literature.     Andovcr  :  1839.     Pp.  176,  177.] 

How  delightful  it  is  to  see  the  manner  in  which  the  last 
glance  of  the  Saviour  fell  upon  his  chosen  !  It  is  said  in  the 
Gospel  of  Luke,  that  he  lifted  up  his  hands  and  blessed  them, 
and,  as  he  was  blessing  them,  he  parted  from  them.  If  an 
inventive  fancy  would  form  some  conception  of  the  mode 
in  which  the  Saviour  might  have  taken  his  departure  from 
earth,  —  that  Saviour  who  broke  not  the  bruised  reed,  nor 
quenched  the  glowing  wick,  —  could  it  design  a  more  becom- 
ing, a  more  beautiful  picture,  than  this? 

This  mode  of  the  Redeemer's  departure  did  not  take  place 
by  accident.  It  is  in  keeping  with  the  whole  life  of  him  who 
came  into  the  world  not  to  condemn  it,  but  to  make  it  happy. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 25 

Imagine  that  the  Saviour  of  sinners  had  terminated  his 
earthly  course  hke  Ehjah,  —  who  was  carried  to  heaven  in  a 
chariot  of  fire  by  a  tempest  of  the  Lord,  —  and  you  will  feel 
that  such  a  termination  is  not  consonant  with  either  the 
middle  or  the  beg"inning  of  the  Saviour's  course.  We  read  of 
the  apostles,  that  they  went  back  to  Jerusalem  with  great  joy. 
With  joy?  With  joy  after  their  One  and  All  had  been  parted 
from  them,  and  while  they  were  not  yet  certain  of  his  revisit 
in  the  spirit  ?  Yea,  with  joy.  They  had  seen  the  hands 
stretched  out  to  bless  them.  Wherever  they  stood,  and 
wherever  they  went,  the  blessing  hands  were  before  their 
eyes. 

LYMAN   ABBOTT. 

[Jesus  of  Nazareth.     New  York  :  1S69.     P.  498.] 

The  question  of  the  justice  of  Jesus'  condemnation  de- 
pends upon  the  judgment  which  is  formed  of  his  character. 
If  he  had  been  only  a  Galilean  rabbi,  the  tribunal  of  history 
could  not  rightfully  reverse  that  of  Caiaphas.  In  the  mauso- 
leum of  the  noble  dead,  there  is  no  place  to  erect,  by  the  side 
of  Confucius  of  China,  Buddha  of  India,  and  Socrates  of 
Greece,  a  statue  to  the  memory  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  is 
either  the  Son  of  God,  or  he  was  a  false  prophet :  he  was  either 
more  than  a  philosopher,  or  less  than  a  true  man. 


ALEXANDER   VINET. 

[Outlines  of  Theology.    London:  1865.    Pp.  44,45.] 

It  is  not  to  Christianity,  it  is  to  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  are  to 
go.  True  Christianity  exists  nowhere  as  a  whole,  if  it  be  not 
in  Jesus  Christ :  we  may  conceive  it,  indeed,  in  its  entirety  and 
in  all  its  beauty ;  but  we  seem  never  to  realize  it  in  our  hearts 
or  in  our  lives.  And  yet  the  little  each  true  Christian  does 
realize,  little  though  it  be,  is  divine  and  incomparable.     We 


126  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

stand  still  in  amazement  before  this  imperfect  sketch  of  a 
marvellous  picture  ;  we  recognize  the  touch  of  God  himself  in 
the  unfinished  work;  one  single  Christian  moment  is  of  more 
value  than  the  whole  of  an  unchristian  life  ;  and  Christianity, 
even  in  weakness,  and  the  general  decadence  of  faith,  is  a 
living  seal  which  continually  proclaims  that  God  is  not  far  off. 
To  history,  system,  Christianity  itself,  let  us  prefer  Jesus 
Christ.  Let  us  be  Christians  by  immediate  intercourse  with 
him,  instead  of  contenting  ourselves  by  being  so  through 
familiarity  with  doctrine  and  knowledge  which  relate  to  him. 


GEORG   HEINRICH   AUGUST   EWALD. 

[The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ.     Cambridge  :  1S65.     Pp.  344-347.] 

Jesus  brought  the  very  element  which  alone  was  wanting 
for  the  completion  of  the  ancient  true  religion  in  the  Church, 
which  this  Church  was  long  desiring;  namely,  the  cheerfulness, 
power,  and  activity  of  the  purest  divine  love,  to  be  subdued 
by  nothing,  penetrating  all  knowledge  as  well  as  all  action, 
fulfilling  all  existing  good  laws,  but  alive  equall)'  to  ever)^  new 
divine  duty  and  all  new  knowledge  ;  giving  to  the  world  the 
most  sensible  proof,  in  ruling,  working,  helping,  and  leading, 
but  also  in  all  obedience,  all  self-restraint,  and  all  self-sacrifice. 
Thus  was  he  the  Son  of  God  in  a  way  none  other  had  been  ; 
in  mortal  body  and  in  fleeting  time  the  purest  reflection  and 
the  most  glorious  picture  of  the  Eternal. 

He  was  the  Word  of  God  ;  through  his  human  word,  as 
well  as  through  his  whole  manifestation  and  working,  speaking 
from  God,  and  illustrating  to  the  world  God's  most  secret 
thought,  nay,  as  it  were,  the  spirit  of  his  working,  with  such 
absohite  power  and  such  immortal  brilliance  as  none  has  hitherto 
surpassed  and  as  none  can  surpass  ;  and  so  he  was  the  only  true 
Messiah,  the  Eternal  King  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  among 
men,  perfected  for  the  first  time  in  his  person  ;  the  One 
towards  whom,  as  Leader  and  Lord,  every  one  aJter  him  must 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 27 

constantly  look  and  strive,  whom  the  Spirit  leads,  whether  in 
thought,  in  labor,  or  in  suffering,  to  strive  purely  and  wholly 
up  to  God. 

Is  the  perfect  possible  in  the  humanly  imperfect  ?  the 
imperishable  and  eternal  possible  in  the  perishable  and  the 
transitory  ?  The  answer  to  this  he  demonstrates  as  it  has 
never  been  before  or  since,  and  he  will  forever  manifest  and 
prove  it  to  all  those  who  do  not  flee  from  his  light. 

Before  him,  amonof  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  no  one 
even  rjghtly  conceived  the  task  that  was  to  be  accomplished. 
Socrates  in  a  long  life  hardly  succeeded  even  in  rightly  dis- 
cerning it  at  a  distance,  whilst  his  pupils  immediately  lost 
themselves  again  in  mere  questions  of  science  ;  and  hardly 
among  the  Stoics  did  a  more  remote  recollection  of  the  task 
survive.  Buddha  strove  toward  it  through  the  creation  of  the 
same  divided  nature  in  man  and  in  nations  which  in  Christen- 
dom only  satisfies  the  Pope  and  friends  of  Popery,  and  ended 
by  putting  himself  in  God's  place.  Confucius  conceived  the 
project  of  founding  and  sustaining  the  best  kingdom  merely 
through  good  instruction,  good  morals,  and  at  most  by  a 
striving  after  the  perfect  apart  from  the  living  and  true  God. 
How  far  does  jesus  stand  removed  from  even  these  greatest 
men  outside  Israel !  And  if,  nevertheless,  the  kingdom  of 
the  two  last  endures  so  wonderfully,  what  must  we  expect  of  the 
duration  of  his  kingdom  ? 

All  Israel's  noblest  powers,  and  most  exalted  efforts,  seem 
united  in  this  Oite,  and  hence  mount  in  him  higher  and  higher 
with  his  very  success,  most  unexpectedly  and  marvellously ; 
and  in  every  noble  and  aspiring  people  a  culminating  effort 
at  the  close  of  a  long  history  thus  gathers  most  materials  into 
the  condensed  kernel-like  strength  of  a  single  man. 

Thus  all  that  was  most  fair  and  exalted  in  what  the  Greeks 
strove  after,  met  in  the  two  so  unlike  contemporaries,  Aristotle 
and  Alexander ;  and  the  best  to  which  the  Romans  could  rise, 
in  one  man,  Julius  Caesar.  Among  the  Arabians,  again, 
Mohammed  became  such  a  hero.     In  Israel  also,  all  at  length 


128  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

that  was  most  noble  and  immortal  in  It,  which  for  hundreds 
and  thousands  of  years  had  been  striven  for  and  hoped  for, 
was  summed  up  in  the  working  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Only 
in  this  nation  could  he  come  ;  and  he  came  here  as  the  long- 
desired  and  expected,  for  whom  the  way  had  long  been  pre- 
paring, though  no  one  before  him  was  able  actually  to  find 
it.  But  as  the  highest  effort  of  this  people  from  the  time  of 
the  founding  of  the  Church  of  the  true  God  was  infinitely 
more  exalted  and  divinely  imperative  than  all  which  to  other 
nations  seemed  the  highest  end  of  life,  and  this  final  goal  of 
all  the  noblest  work  of  this  people,  in  the  course  of  ages  amid 
all  the  changing  destinies,  nay  even  amid  their  deepest 
troubles  and  most  lasting  gloom,  was  only  the  more  clearly 
recognized  and  the  more  zealously  pursued  anew ;  so  now  in 
Jesus  a  hero  had  appeared  on  the  earth,  far  less  imposing, 
more  short-lived  and  weaker,  than  those  named  above,  and 
yet  infinitely  more  exalted,  more  mighty,  and  more  immortal 
than  any  of  them. 

The  highest  had  now  come  which  could  come,  as  the  fruit 
and  reward  of  all  the  combats  and  victories  of  the  incalculable 
hosts  of  men  of  God  in  Israel,  to  which  more  or  less  distinctly 
the  hope  and  desire  of  all  noblest  antiquity  had  been  directed, 
and  which  for  the  whole  future  was  to  have  an  inconiparably 
higher  importance  ;  but  had  come  infinitely  nobler,  and  hence, 
also,  infinitely  more  through  Messiah's  own  working  and 
suffering,  than  through  that  of  all  the  men  of  God  before  him. 


ERNEST    NAVILLE. 

[The  Chiust.     Edinburgh:   iSSo.     P.  212.] 

In  the  measure  in  which  you  will  realize  the  love  of  Christ, 
you  will  be  one  of  the  grains  of  the  salt  of  the  earth,  though 
it  be  the  least ;  one  of  the  rays,  be  it  the  faintest,  of  the  eter- 
nal light.  You  will  encounter  great  obstacles  from  without, 
greater  still  in  the  miseries  of  your  own  nature  ;  but  be  not 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  I  29 

discouraged.  Do  not  forget  that  the  moral  life  is  a  combat, 
and  that  one  of  the  great  laws  of  the  spiritual  order  is,  that 
we  must  reach  success  through  defeat,  and  pass  through 
humiliation  to  glory. 

Under  the  government  of  Providence,  the  world  ends  by 
following  that  which  it  begins  by  rejecting.  The  Greeks  put 
Socrates  to  death,  then  raised  statues  to  his  glory.  By  the 
hands  of  the  Jews,  humanity  nailed  Jesus  to  a  tree  ;  then,  at 
the  call  of  a  few  fishermen  and  of  a  tent-maker,  it  relents,  and 
follows  him. 


JACOB   ABBOTT. 

[The  Corner-Stone.     New  York:   1855.     Pp.  51,  60-62.] 

Jesus  Christ  was  so  entirely  devoted  to  his  Father's 
business  while  he  was  upon  earth,  that  half  of  the  readers 
of  his  life  do  not  imagine  that  he  had  any  personal  feelings 
or  desires  of  his  own.   .   .   . 

It  is  surprising  how  much  the  example  of  Christ  loses  its 
power  over  us,  simply  on  account  of  the  absolute  perfection 
of  it.  If  he  had  been  partly  a  lover  of  pleasure  ;  if  he  had,  for 
instance,  built  himself  a  splendid  mansion,  and  ornamented 
his  grounds,  and  devoted  some  portion  of  his  time  to  selfish 
enjoyment  there  ;  or  if  he  had  entered  into  political  life,  and 
given  a  share  of  his  attention  to  promoting  his  own  honor,  we 
might,  perhaps,  have  felt  that  he  was  more  like  one  of  us  ; 
and  if,  then,  he  had  torn  himself  away  from  these  temptations, 
so  as  finally  to  have  devoted  his  chief  time  and  attention  to 
the  glory  of  God  and  the  good  of  men,  the  example  which 
he  would  have  thus  set  for  us  would  have  seemed,  perhaps, 
more  within  our  reach.  The  selfish  and  worldly  spirit  which 
he  would  have  exhibited  would,  as  it  were,  have  made  his 
case  come  home  to  us  ;  and  then  whatever  zeal  and  fidelity  he 
might  have  shown  in  his  Father's  work  would  have  allured 
us  to  an  imitation  of  it.  But  as  it  is,  since  he  gave  him- 
self up  wholly  to  his  duty,  since  he  relinquished  the  world 


I30  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

altogether,  Christians  seem  to  think  that  his  bright  example  is 
only  to  a  very  limited  extent  an  example  for  them.  But  we 
must  remember  that  his  powers  were  human  powers,  his  feel- 
ings were  human  feelings,  and  his  example  is  strictly  an 
example  for  the  whole  world.  Yet  how  few  consider  it  in  this 
light !  Christians  admit,  indeed,  that  the  general  principles 
which  regulated  his  conduct  ought  to  regulate  theirs ;  but 
then  the  most  that  they  generally  think  of  attempting  is  to 
follow  in  his  steps  slowly  and  hesitatingly,  and  at  a  great 
distance  behind. 

Jesus  Christ  was,  in  some  respects,  the  most  bold,  ener- 
getic, decided,  and  courageous  man  that  ever  lived  ;  but  in 
others  he  was  the  most  flexible,  submissive,  and  yielding ; 
and  in  the  conceptions  which  many  persons  form  of  his  char- 
acter, there  is  a  degree  of  indistinctness  and  confusion,  from 
want  of  clear  ideas  of  the  mode  in  which  these  seemingly 
opposite  qualities  come  together.  The  explanation  is  this. 
The  question,  which  of  these  two  classes  of  qualities  he  would 
exhibit,  depended  entirely  upon  the  question,  whether  it  was 
his  own  personal  welfare,  or  his  Father's  business,  which  was 
at  stake.  If  it  was  the  latter,  he  feared  no  dangfer,  he  shrunk 
from  no  opposition,  and  no  obstacle  or  difficulty  would  turn 
him  from  his  course.  If  it  was  the  former,  his  own  personal 
welfare,  he  was  exactly  the  reverse,  —  mild,  gentle,  and  yield- 
ing to  the  last  degree.  There  never  was  a  mission  or  enter- 
prise of  any  kind  conducted  with  a  more  bold,  energetic,  and 
fearless  spirit,  than  the  Saviour's  mission  ;  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  there  never  was  a  case  where  personal  sacrifices  and 
injuries  were  borne  with  so  much  indifference  and  unconcern. 
Observe  how  he  reproved  the  insincere  and  dishonest  pre- 
tenders to  religion,  who  filled  Juda-a  in  those  days.  He 
followed  them  into  crowds  ;  he  met  them  face  to  face,  and  in 
the  most  direct  and  personal  manner  spread  out  their 
insincerity  and  hypocrisy  before  them. 

In  the  mitlst  of  Jerusalem,  the  very  heart  and  centre  of 
their  inlluence,  he  brought  forward  his    accusations   against 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  131 

them,  with  a  power  and  severity  which  human  eloquence  has 
very  seldom  equalled.  This  was  in  the  cause  of  his  Father. 
But  when  ends  merely  personal  to  himself  were  concerned, 
how  changed  !  Peter's  most  unmanly  and  ungrateful  denial 
was  reproved  by  a  look.  And  Judas,  coming  at  midnight  with 
armed  men,  to  seize  him  by  the  basest  treachery,  was  called 
to  a  sense  of  his  guilt  by  the  mildest,  the  very  gentlest 
reproof,  which  language  could  frame.  So,  when  the  profana- 
tion of  his  Father's  temple  was  to  be  stopped,  Jesus  Christ 
could  use  a  scourge,  and  effect  a  forcible  ejectment  with 
almost  military  authority  ;  and  yet  when,  as  was  shown  after- 
ward in  the  judgment-hall,  there  was  nothing  to  excite  him 
but  his  own  personal  injuries,  he  was  meek  and  gentle  as  a 
lamb.  He  was  equally  ready  to  use  the  scourge  in  the  cause 
of  God,  and  to  submit  to  it  in  his  own. 


JAMES    DRUMMOND. 

[Spiritual  Religion.     London:   1870.     Pp.  18,  106-109,  in.] 

Opening  the  New  Testament,  not  to  discover  formal  defi- 
nition or  dry  statements  of  dogma,  but  to  ascertain  the  source 
of  that  wonderful  spiritual  enthusiasm,  that  outburst  of  reli- 
gious light,  which  from  its  obscure  home  in  Palestine  soon 
traversed  the  vast  extent  of  the  Roman  Empire,  we  have  not 
long  to  seek.  Instantly  there  rises  into  view  one  great  Person, 
whose  name  perpetually  recurs,  and  is  mentioned  with  pro- 
foundest  reverence  and  love  ;  whose  influence  pervades  every 
thought,  and  glows  in  every  feeling ;  and  whose  faith,  seizing 
with  holy  contagion  upon  the  heart,  gives  a  triumphant  peace 
to  the  martyr.  We  are  quickly  satisfied  that  we  are  reading 
the  writings  of  men  who  have  experienced  a  great  spiritual 
chanofe,  all  the  noblest  elements  of  whose  nature  have  been 
stirred  to  their  depths,  and  who  are  conscious  that  they  have 
entered  upon  a  higher  form  of  character,  and  risen  to  the 
apprehension  of  truer  principles ;  and  when  we  inquire  into 


132  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

the  source  of  this  change,  we  are  invariably  referred  under 
God  to  Jesus  Christ  as  the  being  whose  teaching  enhghtened, 
whose  example  directed,  and  whose  love  constrained  them. 
Now,  if  any  one  will  reflect  upon  this  constant  reference  to 
Christ,  and  consider  the  way  in  which  his  spirit  is  held  up  as 
the  finished  beauty  of  man's  filial  character,  if  he  will  attempt 
to  measure  the  impression  which  Christ  left  upon  the  hearts 
of  his  disciples,  and  notice  how  the  earliest  Christian  thought 
clusters  around  his  person,  he  will  have  no  difficulty  in  con- 
cluding, without  regard  to  particular  passages,  that  some  sort 
of  faith  in  Christ,  combined  with  heartfelt  love  and  gratitude 
towards  him,  was  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the  first  believers. 

This  general  impression,  derived  from  the  whole  structure 
of  the  New-Testament  Scriptures,  is  perhaps  more  instructive 
than  any  thing  we  can  glean  from  particular  statements  torn 
from  their  connection.  The  seeming  indifference  of  the 
writers  to  mere  forms  of  speculative  belief,  united  with  their 
ardent  affection  for  Christ,  and  their  intense  faith  that  his 
spirit  was  the  one  true  spirit  for  themselves  and  for  all  men, 
might  suggest  much  serious  reflection  and  self-questioning  to 
Christians  of  later  times.   .  .   . 

In  the  first  place,  if  Jesus  be  the  Son  of  God,  we  can  at 
once  understand  that  in  seeing  him  we  see  the  Divine  char- 
acter, so  far,  at  least,  as  it  is  open  to  human  apprehension  at 
all.  The  qualities  which  we  most  revere  in  Christ,  and  which 
leave  upon  us  the  most  solemn  impression,  —  namely,  his 
perfect  purity,  his  noble  truthfulness,  his  immeasurable  love,  — 
are  precisely  those  qualities  which  we  instinctively  character- 
ize as  divine  and  eternal.  They  bear  their  own  witness  to 
the  conscience,  and  refuse  to  be  confounded  with  the  transient 
displays  of  human  passion,  ambition,  greed,  or  sensuality. 
Wherever  we  meet  them,  they  command  our  honor.  Within 
ourselves,  they  speak  with  an  authority  which  we  may  dis- 
obey, but  whose  rightfulness  we  cannot  dispute.  In  other 
men,  the  impression  these  qualities  produce  upon  us  is 
obscured  by  a  large  admixture  of  lower  elements ;  and  they 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  133 

appear  rather  as  transient  flashes  from  a  noble  spirit  con- 
cealed within,  than  as  the  unclouded  central  light  which 
illumines  the  whole  character  with  its  glory. 

But  in  Christ  they  constitute,  as  it  were,  the  substance  of 
his  being ;  not  waging  a  fierce  and  doubtful  war  with  lower 
impulses,  but  calmly  triumphant,  enthroned  upon  his  heart 
with  the  serene  majesty  of  conscious  power,  and  leaving  on 
most  men's  minds  an  impression  of  unapproachable  sublimity. 
It  is  for  this  reason  that  words  which  coming  from  any  one 
would  enforce  respect,  when  spoken  by  him  seem  to  be  noth- 
ing less  than  the  utterance  of  a  Divine  voice,  as  thouorh  the 
righteousness  of  heaven  had  taken  up  its  tabernacle  in  human 
form.  The  conscience  is  pierced,  hypocrisy  abashed,  penitence 
subdued  into  tears  of  devout  love,  by  the  fervor  and  the  ten- 
derness of  his  appeal.  When  he  pronounces  sin  forgiven, 
it  is  as  though  the  Father  whispered  peace.  When  he  yearns 
to  save,  it  is  as  though  the  gentleness  of  God  were  bending 
over  our  stricken  souls.  We  feel  that  in  him  God  has  indeed 
come  to  us,  and  causes  his  pity  and  love  to  shine  amid  the 
shadows  of  mortality  and  sin.  And  is  not  this  feeling  true  ? 
For  what  are  the  love,  the  justice,  the  holiness,  of  Christ  ? 
They  surely  do  not  originate  in  human  selfishness,  nor  are 
they  invented  by  human  reason  or  fabricated  by  human  will ; 
but  are  simply  the  indwelling  of  a  spirit  given  from  above, 
a  spirit  which  reason  and  conscience  may  accept,  but  whose 
nature  they  cannot  alter,  and  whose  force  they  cannot  create. 
They  are  not  the  dark  ephemeral  fancies  of  a  disordered 
brain,  but  the  one  abiding  liofht  amid  the  fitful  orlare  of  human 
thought  and  passion.  They  are  not  the  passing  wisdom  of 
a  single  age,  but  the  eternal  word,  which,  however  dimly  dis- 
cerned, shines  as  a  central  light  in  ever}^  man,  but  appears  in 
its  fulness  in  Christ,  that  we,  too,  may  receive  of  its  fulness. 
Derived,  not  from  earth,  but  from  God,  the  immediate  off- 
spring of  his  creative  power,  disowning  all  lower  dependence, 
and  constitutinof  the  highest  attributes  which  we  can  ascribe 
to  God,  are  we  wrong   in  saying  that    they  are    indeed    the 


134  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Divine  Spirit,  and  that  it  was  the  indwelhng  Father  who  mani- 
fested himself  through  words  of  truth  and  deeds  of  mercy  ? 
Thus  is  justified  the  beUef  of  Christendom,  that  in  Christ 
there  is  a  superhuman  presence,  and  in  the  death  on  the 
cross  a  more  than  earthly  love  was  revealed  to  man.  This 
reasoning  will  indeed  apply  in  a  less  degree  to  others  besides 
Christ ;  and  I  believe  it  true  that  in  every  man  there  is  more 
than  man,  and  in  each  bosom  a  mystery  too  deep  to  fathom, — 
a  position  admitted  by  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  But  vulgar  prejudice  dishonors  that  which  is  common  ; 
and  while  in  us  the  human  is  apt  to  set  up  for  itself,  and 
obscure  the  divine,  in  Christ  it  becomes  the  submissive  organ 
of  the  higher  spirit,  and  the  glory  of  the  man  is  made 
subservient  to  the  manifestation  of  God. 

It  is  in  this  feature  of  the  Sonship  that  we  feel  our  human 
sympathies  so  nearly  touched.  Here  we  recognize  the  man, 
conscious  of  infirmity,  subject  to  weariness,  hunger,  and  pain, 
not  ignorant  of  temptation,  keenly  alive  to  the  affections  of 
friendship,  sad  at  the  thought  of  his  lonely  death,  needing 
the  comfort  and  support  of  prayer ;  yet  here,  too.  in  seeing 
him  we  see  the  Father,  and  this  lowly  dependence  is  as  neces- 
sary to  a  perfect  revelation  as  the  clear  shining  of  the  higher 
Spirit.  For  the  word  "  Father"  is  not  a  proper  name,  but  a 
relative  term,  denoting  one  who  stands  in  a  fatherly  relation 
to  us.  Now,  a  fatherly  relation  on  one  side  implies  a  filial 
relation  on  the  other,  and  cannot  be  fully  manifested  without 
the  presence  of  a  son.  We  might  know  God  as  infinitely 
wise  and  good,  and  yet  not  know  him  as  the  Father.  But  the 
beloved  Son,  who  is  in  his  bosom,  has  declared  him.  He  has 
completed  the  true  relation  between  parent  and  child  ;  and 
in  seeing  his  reverent,  confiding  love  and  patient  submission, 
we  see  also  that  blessed  One  on  whom  his  heart  was  stayed, 
and  whose  will  he  followed  with  such  simple  and  unchange- 
able devotion.  Thus,  whether  we  regard  Christ  as  the  imper- 
sonation of  Divine  righteousness  and  love,  whose  remonstrance 
breaks  the  death-.slumber  of  our  conscience,  and  whose  appeal 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  135 

kindles  our  hearts  into  a  sacrifice  of  grateful  affection  ;  or,  on 
the  other  hand,  view  him  as  the  Man  of  sorrows,  whose  soul 
was  obedient  unto  death,  and  breathed  the  prayer,  "  Not  my 
will,  but  thine,  be  done,"  —  we  still  find  him  the  revealer  of 
God,  and  in  seeing  him  we  see  the  Father. 


WILLIAM    R.    WILLIAMS. 

[Miscellanies.     New  York  :  1850.     Pp.  35-39,  49.] 

The  cross  of  Christ  is  the  only  conservative  principle  of 
our  literature.  Nothing  else  can  save  our  literature.  This 
can;  though  alone,  it  is  sufficient.  Nor  let  any  be  startled. 
Bacon  spoke  of  theology  as  the  haven  of  all  science.  It  was 
said  by  a  highly  gifted  woman,  Madame  de  Stael,  who  cannot 
be  charged  as  a  professional  or  prejudiced  witness  in  the 
matter,  that  the  whole  history  of  the  world  resolved  itself 
naturally  into  two  great  eras,  —  that  before  Christ's  coming, 
and  that  which  has  followed  his  advent.  And  we  find  Johann 
von  Miiller,  a  distinguished  scholar  and  historian  of  Germany, 
holding  this  language  as  to  his  favorite  science,  in  which  he 
had  made  such  eminent  proficiency.  Animadverting  on  a 
defect  of  Herder  in  his  "  Philosophy  of  History,"  "  I  find," 
said  Mliller,  "  every  thing  there  but  Christ ;  and  what  was  the 
history  of  the  world  without  Christ  ?  " 

And,  in  fact,  the  whole  history  of  our  world  has  looked 
forward  or  backward  to  the  fatal  tree  reared  on  grim  Golgotha. 
The  oblation  there  made  had  the  promise  and  immutable 
purpose  of  God  with  it,  to  insure  its  efficacy  over  the  whole 
range  of  human  history,  and  along  the  whole  course  of  the 
mystery  of  the  Divine  Providence,  as  seen  in  the  government 
of  the  world. 

Let  us,  we  entreat  you,  be  understood.  By  the  cross  of 
Christ  we  do  not  mean  the  imaged  cross  as  borne  on  the 
banners  of  the  Inquisition,  with  the  emblems  of  judgment  and 
mercy  floating  over  the   scenes  of  the  auto  da  fe,  where  the 


136  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

judgment  was  without  mercy,  and  the  mercy  a  mere  he.  Nor 
the  cross  as  borne  on  the  shoulder  of  the  Crusader,  whilst, 
pleading  the  name  of  Christ,  he  moved  through  scenes  of 
rapine  and  massacre  to  lay  his  bloody  hand  on  the  Holy 
Sepulchre.  Nor  do  we  mean  the  cross,  as,  carved  and 
gilded,  it  is  seen  glittering  on  the  spires  of  a  cathedral, 
or  hung  in  jewels  and  gold  around  the  maiden's  neck,  or 
embroidered  on  the  slipper  of  a  pontiff.  The  cross,  as  we 
understand  it,  has  no  sympathy  with  the  religion  of  shows  and 
spectacles,  of  mummeries  and  pageants,  of  incense  and  music, 
and  long-drawn  aisles,  and  painted  windows,  and  gorgeous 
pictures,  and  precious  statuary.  But  by  this  title  we  mean  the 
cross  naked,  rugged,  and  desolate ;  not  pictured,  save  on 
the  eye  of  faith,  and  upon  the  page  of  Scripture ;  not  graven, 
but  by  the  finger  of  the  Spirit  on  the  regenerate  heart ;  the 
cross  as  Paul  preached  it,  and  the  first  Christians  received  it. 

Let  us  test  the  energy  of  the  cross  in  its  application  to  the 
mechanical  and  utilitarian  spirit  of  the  age.  It  meets  all  the 
just  wants  of  that  spirit.  Utilitarians  demand  the  practical, 
and  this  is  a  doctrine  eminently  practical.  Let  us  but  observe 
this  trait  in  Christ's  own  history.  He  might  have  theorized 
brilliantly,  and  perhaps  safely  to  himself.  He  might  have  been 
the  Plato  or  the  Homer  of  his  age,  —  a  Plato  far  more  pro- 
found, a  Homer  far  more  sublime,  than  the  old  Grecians.  But 
he  threw  aside  all  such  fame.  He  furnished  the  substance  and 
subject  of  the  most  glorious  literature  the  world  has  seen,  but 
he  lett  it  to  others  to  write  that  literature.  His  business  was 
doing  good.  He  was  a  practical  teacher,  and  a  practical 
philanthropist.  And  as  to  the  actual  working  and  the  ever)- 
day  results  of  the  doctrine  since  the  Saviour's  times,  it  has 
seen  how  commerce  confesses  that  her  wa)-  lias  been  often  pre- 
pared and  protected  by  the  missionaries  of  this  cross  ;  and  how 
the  statesman  bears  witness  that  his  government  has  owed  the 
stability,  order,  and  virtue  of  the  community,  to  the  preaching 
of  this  cross  ;  and  how  the  scholar  attests  that  science  has 
flourished  best  under  the  peaceful  and  sober  intluence  of  this 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  1 37 

religion  of  the  cross.  The  gospel  is  eminently  practical,  then  ; 
and  so  far  it  conciliates  the  spirit  of  utilitarianism.  But  the 
doctrine  of  the  cross  is  not  sordid  and  selfish,  and  so  far  it 
corrects  the  mechanical  utilitarian  tendency  of  our  times. 
Against  the  lust  of  gain,  it  sets  in  strong  contrast  the  example 
of  Christ's  voluntary  poverty,  and,  in  solemn  warning,  the 
Saviour's  declaration  how  hardly  the  rich  man  enters  the 
kingdom  of  heaven.  Against  the  disposition  that  would  set 
material  interests  above  all  others,  and  teach  us  to  regard  the 
tangible  goods  of  earth  as  the  only  real  or  the  only  valuable 
possessions,  the  gospel  shows  Christ  setting  moral  far  above 
all  material  interests,  and  uttering  the  brief  and  pithy 
question,  before  which  avarice  turns  pale,  and  ambition  drops 
his  unfinished  task  :  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the 
whole  world,  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?  or  what  shall  a  man  Qrive 
in  exchange  for  his  soul  ?  " 

If,  as  the  great  English  moralist  has  said,  that  which  exalts 
the  future,  and  disengages  man's  mind  from  being  engrossed 
by  the  present,  serves  to  elevate  man  to  the  true  dignity  of  his 
nature,  how  great  the  practical  value  of  a  faith  in  w^hose 
far-reaching  visions  time  dwindles  into  a  speck,  and  eternity 
becomes  the  paramount  object  of  a  man's  anxieties  and  hopes; 
where  truth  is  made  more  valuable  than  all  thino-s,  to  be 
bought  at  all  risks,  while  truth  is  not  to  be  sold  for  the 
world  ! 


JAMES    BARR   WALKER. 

[Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation.     Boston:  1857.     Pp.  138,  141. 

Suppose  that  the  Messiah  had  come  in  the  character  which 
the  Greeks  admired  ;  that,  assuming  the  seat  of  the  philoso- 
phers, he  had  startled  the  learned  world  by  disclosing  to  them 
new  and  sublime  truths.  Suppose  he  had,  by  the  power  of 
far-reaching  intellect,  answered  all  the  questions  and  solved 
all  the  difficulties  which  perplexed  the  minds  of  the  disciples 
of  the  Porch  and  the  Academy.     In  such  a  case,  his  instruc- 


138  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

tions  would  not  have  been  adapted  to  benefit  the  minds  of 
many,  nor  the  heart  of  any,  of  the  great  mass  of  mankind. 
Vain  of  their  wisdom  already,  the  character  of  the  Messiah 
would  have  been  adapted  to  make  the  philosophers  more  so  ; 
and  instead  of  blessing  them  by  humbling  their  pride,  and 
giving  them  a  sympathy  with  their  fellow-men,  it  would  have 
led  them  and  their  admirers  to  look  upon  those  who  were  not 
endowed  with  superior  mental  qualities  as  an  inferior  class  of 
men. 

But  if  the  Messiah  could  not  have  appeared  in  the  condi- 
tion desired  by  the  Jews,  nor  in  that  admired  by  the  Gentiles, 
the  inquiry  arises :  What  condition  in  life  would  it  be  neces- 
sary that  the  Messiah  should  assume,  in  order  to  benefit  the 
human  family  in  the  highest  degree  by  the  influence  of  that 
condition  ?  In  view  of  the  foreo^oinof  deductions,  the  solution 
is  obvious :  hi  that  co7idition  which  would  have  the  most 
direct  influe7ice  to  destroy  selfishness  and  pride  in  the  huniaji 
heart,  and  to  foster  in  their  stead  humility,  conte?itinent ,  and 
be7ievolence. 

Now,  in  view  of  this  result,  deduced  directly  from  the 
acknowledged  character  of  human  nature,  turn  your  attention 
to  the  earthly  circumstances  of  Jesus,  and  see  how  directly  he 
brought  the  whole  weight  of  his  condition  in  life  to  bear 
against  selfishness  and  pride  of  heart.  He  was  born  in  the 
lowest  possible  circumstances.  His  life  was  a  constant  rebuke 
to  every  ambitious  and  proud  feeling  of  the  human  heart ; 
and  his  death  was  one  esteemed  by  men  the  most  ignominious. 
No  one  who  openly  acknowledged  and  had  fellowship  with 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  his  Teacher  and  Master,  could  do  so 
until  the  natural  pride  of  his  nature  was  subdued.  It  was 
impossible  for  a  man  to  find  fellowship  with  Jesus  unless  he 
humbled  himself,  because  in  no  other  state  could  his  feelings 
meet  those  of  Christ.  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you."  said  Jesus, 
"  and  learn  of  me  ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart ;  and  ye 
siiall  find  rest  for  your  souls." 

Thus  did  Jesus  place  himself  in  a  condition  wiiich  rendered 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  139 

humility  absolutely  necessary  in  order  to  sympathy  with  him, — 
in  the  condition  directly  opposed  to  pride  of  heart,  one  of  the 
most  insidious  enemies  of  man's  happiness  and  usefulness. 
And  as  it  is  an  acknowledged  and  experimental  fact,  that  the 
soul  finds  rest  only  in  meekness,  and  never  in  selfishness  and 
pride  of  mind,  therefore  the  demonstration  is  perfect,  that 
Christ  assumed  the  only  condition  which  it  was  possible  for 
him  to  assume,  and  thereby  destroy  pride  and  misery,  and  pro- 
duce humility  and  peace,  in  human  bosoms. 

Thus,  while  the  Jews  required  a  sign,  and  the  Greeks 
sought  after  wisdom,  the  apostles  preached  Christ  crucified  ; 
understanding  the  philosophy,  the  efficiency,  of  their  doctrine. 
And  so  long  as  the  world  lasts,  every  man  who  reads  the  New 
Testament,  whether  saint  or  sinner,  will  be  penetrated  with 
the  conviction  that  a  vain,  aspiring,  selfish  spirit  is  incompati- 
ble with  the  religion  of  Jesus. 


HENRY    HART    MILMAN. 

[History  of  Christianity.     London:  1867.     Vol.  i.  pp.  189,  194,  296.] 

The  morality  of  Jesus  was  not  in  unison  with  the  temper 
or  the  feelings  of  his  age.  It  was  universal  morality,  adapted 
for  the  whole  human  race,  and  for  every  period  of  civilization 
It  was  morality  grounded  on  broad  and  simple  principles, 
which  had  hitherto  never  been  laid  down  as  the  basis  of 
human    action.   .   .   . 

The  Gospel  first  placed  these  two  great  principles  as  the 
main  pillars  of  the  new  moral  structure :  God  the  universal 
Father,  mankind  one  brotherhood  ;  God  made  known  through 
the  mediation  of  his  Son,  the  image  and  humanized  exemplar 
of  his  goodness  ;  mankind  of  one  kindred,  and  therefore  of 
equal  rank  in  the  sight  of  their  Creator,  and  to  be  united  in 
one  spiritual  commonwealth.  .   .   . 

In  all  the  superhuman  beauty  of  the  character  of  Jesus, 
nothing  is  more  affecting  and  impressive  than  the  profound 


HO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

melancholy  with  which  he  foretells  the  future  desolation  of  the 
city,  which,  before  two  days  were  past,  was  to  reek  with  his 
own  blood.   .  .  . 

Jesus  might  seem  not  merely  to  know  what  was  in  man, 
but  how  it  entered  into  man's  heart  and  mind.  His  was 
divine  charity  enlightened  by  infinite  wisdom. 


W.    R.    NICOLL. 

[The  Incarnate  Saviour.     Edinburgh:    1881.     Pp.  384,  385.] 

Jesus  Christ  must  be  accounted  for.  He  is  the  problem 
of  this  age  especially,  and  he  will  be  the  problem  of  all  the 
ages.  What  account  of  Christ  will  stand  ?  Was  he  dreamed 
into  being  ?  Then  the  dreamer  must  be  equal  to  the  man  he 
dreamed.  Those  who  make  this  reply  must,  it  has  been  well 
said,  account  for  the  man  born  in  the  imagination  of  some 
other  man,  who,  as  a  creature  of  imagination,  has  risen  to  the 
supreme  place  in  human  history,  and  who  to-day  rules  millions 
of  human  lives  and  destinies.  For  this  is  the  wonderful  thing 
about  his  character,  that  he  has  been  the  constant  standard 
of  all  the  different  ages.  The  best  idea  of  each  age  has  been 
embodied  in  him.  He  was  seen  at  first  as  the  great  Prophet 
and  Teacher  of  mankind,  then  as  the  ideal  of  a  life  of  self- 
devoted  poverty,  then  as  a  great  improver  and  reformer,  then 
as  the  Example  of  humanity,  —  all  true  ideas,  but  none  of 
them  complete.  Each  age  has  been  touched  and  swayed  by 
him,  but  he  is  always  before  and  above  the  ages  ;  and  still,  as 
they  go,  they  find  him  equal  to  their  best  thoughts  and  hopes. 
As  it  has  been,  so  it  will  be,  that  Model  will  ever  rise  above 
the  greatest  thoughts  of  men,  and  the  greatest  things  even 
that  have  been  said  and  thought  about  itself. 

The  generations  may  make  great  advances,  and  find  much 
that  their  j^redecessors  have  never  thought  or  cared  for  ;  but, 
however  great  their  advances  may  be,  that  same  figure  will 
continue  to  lead  their  march. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  141 

W.    H.    PINNOCK. 

[Christ  our  King.     London:  1876.     P.  236.] 

Forcibly  indeed  does  the  language  of  revelation,  as  it 
advances,  portray  the  amazing  love  and  yearning  the  Christ 
entertains  for  his  Church  and  people,  till  it  culminates  in  that 
truthful  simile  of  living  union,  sympathy,  and  defence,  the  one 
body,  —  Christ  the  Head,  and  the  Church  members.  Lambs 
and  sheep  may  be  parted  with,  friends  may  be  cast  off,  breth- 
ren forgotten,  children  deserted,  a  bride  set  aside  ;  but 
himself,  his  own  body,  he  cannot  part  with,  cast  off,  forget, 
desert,  nor  repudiate.  A  living  body  cannot  be  separate  from 
a  living  head  ;  the  head  and  members  are  so  assimilated  and 
interwoven  in  their  very  nature,  that  severance  with  life  is 
impossible. 

Allied  by  covenant,  as  are  Christ  and  his  Church,  there 
is  a  oneness,  communion,  and  affinity,  which  are  indestruc- 
tible. If  Christ  the  Head  has  risen,  so  must  his  body,  the 
Church,  rise.  If  Christ  is  immortal,  so  is  his  body,  the  Church, 
immortal. 


FRANZ     DELITZSCH. 

[Jesus  and  Hillel.     London:  1877.     Pp.  142,  169,  189,  190.] 

Jesus  is  the  founder  of  a  new  religion,  which  stands  to  the 
religion  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  relation  of  its  very  heart 
and  kernel,  of  its  disentrammelled  spirit.  He  is  the  founder 
of  a  humanism  undreamt  of  before  his  day,  of  a  religion  of 
philanthropy  and  humanity,  which  declares  all  walls  of  parti- 
tion between  different  races  to  be  abolished ;  and  he  has 
instituted  a  universal  brotherhood,  through  the  new  bond  of 
a  Divine  and  an  all-embracing  love.   .  .  . 

.  Jesus  breaks  down  the  Jewish  national  barrier  of  partition, 
and  inculcates  a  universal  philanthropy,  which  should  subsist 
regardless    of    nationality,    rank,    merit,    or    sympathy.       My 


l^ 


142  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

neighbor  is  henceforth  every  one  who  needs  my  help,  or 
whose  help  I  need,  —  even  my  enemy.  All  men  are  to 
acknowledge  one  another  as  brethren  ;  for  all  have  one  great 
Father  in  heaven,  whom  Jesus  has  revealed  and  brought  near 
to  them.  This  universal  love  is  nowhere  enjoined  in  the  Old- 
Testament  Scriptures  ;  and  although  here  and  there  generos- 
ity towards  an  enemy  may  be  inculcated,  Jesus  is  the  first  and 
only  one  who  ever  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  moral  principle 
this  love,  which  should  embrace  even  those  that  hate  us. 

How  deeply  the  whole  world  has  been  moved  by  these 
words,  "  Love  your  enemies,  bless  them  that  curse  you,  do 
good  to  them  that  hate  you,  and  pra)-  for  them  that  despite- 
fully  use  you  and  persecute  you ;  that  ye  may  be  the  children 
of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven,"  all  history  shows.  In 
these  words  the  highest  idea  of  morality  is  held  up  for  our 
imitation ;  and  ever  since  they  were  uttered,  all  true  progress 
in  the  history'  of  mankind  has  consisted  in  the  triumph  of  the 
love  they  teach.   .  .   . 

Jesus  lives,  and  every  onward  step  in  the  progress  of  the 
human  race  results  from  the  progressive  victory  of  the  light 
which  radiates  from  him.  It  is,  and  must  ever  remain,  a  fact 
deeply  engraved  in  the  history  of  the  world,  that  in  this  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  there  was  o-iven  to  mankind  a  new  lioht  in  the 
knowledge  of  God,  and  of  the  life  which  proceedeth  forth 
from  him. 


CHARLES    HODGE. 

[Systematic  Theology.    New  York:  1872.    Vol.  ii.  p.  257.] 

The  Mediator  between  God  and  man  must  be  sinless. 
Under  the  law,  the  victim  offered  on  the  altar  must  be  without 
blemish.  Christ,  who  was  to  offer  himself  under  God  as  a 
sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world,  must  be  himself  free  from 
sin.  The  High  Priest,  therefore,  who  becomes  us,  he  whom 
our  necessities  demand,  must  be  holy,  harmless,  undefiled, 
and  separate  from  sinners.     He  was,  therefore,  without  sin. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 43 

A  sinful  saviour  from  sin  is  therefore  an  impossibility.  He 
could  not  have  access  to  God  ;  he  could  not  be  a  sacrifice  for 
sins  ;  and  he  could  not  be  the  source  of  holiness  and  eternal 
life  to  his  people. 

This  sinlessness  of  our  Lord,  however,  does  not  amount 
to  absolute  impeccability.  It  was  not  a  non  potest  peccare. 
If  he  was  a  true  man,  he  must  have  been  capable  of  sinning. 
That  he  did  not  sin  under  the  greatest  provocation  ;  that 
when  he  was  reviled,  he  blessed ;  when  he  suffered,  he  threat- 
ened not ;  that  he  was  dumb  as  a  sheep  before  its  shearers,  — 
is  held  up  to  us  as  an  example. 

Temptation  implies  the  possibility  of  sin.  If  from  the 
constitution  of  his  person  it  was  impossible  for  Christ  to  sin, 
then  his  temptation  was  unreal  and  without  effect,  and  he 
cannot  sympathize  with  his  people. 


GEORGE    P.    FISHER. 

[The  Beginnings  of  Christianity.    New  York:  1877.     Pp.  449,  456.] 

The  nature  of  the  regal  office  which  Jesus  assumed  is 
seen  in  his  actual  proceedings.  What  was  the  character  of 
his  legislation  ?  This  appears  in  the  precepts  of  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount.  They  relate  to  tempers  of  heart  as  between 
man  and  man,  and  man  and  God,  and  to  ethical  conduct. 
They  have  nothing  directly  to  do  with  civil  relations  and 
obligations.  They  are  stripped  of  all  sense,  and  of  all  value, 
unless  it  is  presupposed  that  the  Lawgiver  has  in  view,  not  the 
organization  of  a  state,  but  the  moral  guidance  of  mankind. 

When  we  inquire  for  the  means  on  which  he  relied  for  the 
accomplishment  of  a  revolution,  the  grandest  which  it  ever 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man  to  conceive,  —  it  being  nothing 
less  than  the  moral  regeneration  of  mankind, — we  find  them 
to  be  in  harmony  with  the  elevated  character  of  his  aims. 
There  is  no  occult  policy.  There  is  no  elaborate  contrivance 
of  machinery.     Every  thing  is  simple  and  open  as  the  day. 


144  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

E.    H.    PEROWNE. 

[HuLSEAN  Lectures,  1866.    London:  1867.     Pp.  42,  43,  51,  52.  56,  57.] 

There  is  one  characteristic  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  which, 
though  not  thrust  upon  our  notice,  or  reiterated  in  set  terms, 
has  impressed  the  minds  of  all  who  read  the  Gospel  narratives 
with  attention,  and  has  been  specially  pointed  out  by  a  recent 
writer  in  a  work  of  great  notoriety.  I  allude  to  that  deep, 
unbroken  tranquillity  of  soul,  that  profound  calm  within,  which 
lay  too  deep  for  storms,  even  of  his  troubled  life,  to  ruffle  it. 
In  many,  perhaps  most,  of  those  who  have  played  a  distin- 
guished part  on  the  world's  stage,  who  have  been  the  leaders 
of  thought  or  of  action  to  their  fellow-men,  this  equipoise  of 
soul,  this  inward  calm,  has  been  conspicuously  waiting.   .   .   . 

And  yet  in  Jesus  Christ,  grand  as  was  the  object  which  he 
proposed  to  himself,  magnificent  beyond  all  parallel  the  end 
on  which  his  heart  was  set,  we  detect  no  flutter  of  vanity, 
no  eager  panting  of  ambition,  no  cowardly  apprehension 
of  failure,  no  despair,  nor  even  despondency,  in  the  hour  of 
death.  .  .  . 

Say  what  you  will  of  the  great  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  you 
cannot  say  that  he  ever  retraced  a  step,  or  retracted  a  word.   .   .   . 

If  it  be  true  that  in  the  holiest  and  best  of  men  a  sense 
of  their  sin  is  commensurate  with  their  progress  in  holiness, 
and  if  this  sense  of  sin  finds  its  expression  in  words  and  acts 
of  repentance,  in  retractation  and  regret  and  restitution, — 
how  is  it  that  from  the  first  chapter  of  Matthew  to  the  last 
of  John  we  read  nothing  of  such  expression  on  the  part  of 
Jesus?  ...  In  all  his  discourses,  whether  addressed  to  his 
disciples  or  to  the  multitude,  often  as  he  warned  men  against 
sin,  both  in  its  grosser  and  more  subtle  forms,  he  never  once, 
cither  directly  or  by  implication,  included  himself  in  the 
prohibition.  He  always  spoke  as  if  from  a  higher  platform  : 
he  spoke  as  one  who  could  sympathize  with  all  the  human 
frailty  of  his  hearers,  as  one  who  needed  not  that  any  should 


i 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  145 

testify  of  man,  for  he  knew  what  was  in  man  ;  but  yet  as  one 
who  was  exempt  from  the  sin  which  he  condemned,  and  who 
needed  not  the  pardon  which  he  promised  and  bestowed. 
And  while  in  his  conversation  with  men  he  betrayed  no  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  in  the  ghmpses  which  we  have  of  his  inter- 
course with  heaven,  the  same  unconsciousness  is  apparent. 
MingHng  with  his  prayers  for  support  under  suffering,  there 
is  no  confession  of  sin,  no  cry  to  God  for  its  forgiveness. 
When  I  remember  the  candor  of  the  EvangeHsts,  their  evident 
freedom  from  dishonest  artifice,  I  cannot  but  think  that  the 
silence  of  Jesus  in  this  matter  was  real,  —  that  he  neither 
believed  himself,  nor  encouraged  others  to  believe,  that  he 
had  any  sin  to  confess.  And  if  it  were  so,  then  of  a  truth 
that  silence  is  more  eloquent  and  more  convincing  than  a 
thousand  disclaimers.  And  unless  we  are  prepared  to  accept 
our  Lord's  estimate  of  himself,  and  say  that  he  confessed  no 
sin  because  he  knew  no  sin,  we  must  charge  him  with  such 
spiritual  blindness  and  self-deception  as  would  be  fatal  at 
once  to  his  character  as  a  man  and  his  claims  as  a  religious 
teacher.   .   .   . 

Here  is  One,  born  of  woman,  who  rises  in  moral  grandeur, 
not  like  Ajax  in  the  Grecian  host,  the  highest  of  earth's  demi- 
gods, not  as  the  tallest  pillar  amidst  a  group  of  stately  col- 
umns, not  as  the  highest  peak  among  other  peaks  of  a  vast 
mountain  range,  n,or  floating  in  his  unsullied  purity  above  the 
sin-stained  race  whose  nature  he  shares ;  but,  like  Jacob's 
ladder,  —  blessed  emblem!  —  resting  on  this  earth  of  ours, 
and  yet  reaching  far  above  human  pride  and  passion  and  sin, 
penetrating  this  lower  atmosphere  of  human  life,  and  stretching 
ever  onwards,  ever  upwards,  till  its  top  enters  the  high  court 
of  heaven  itself. 

It  is  not  in  the  practice  of  one  virtue  that  Jesus  excelled, 
but  in  all ;  not  in  one  relation  in  life  that  he  was  sinless,  but 
in  all.  And  while  Moses,  the  meekest  man,  sinned  in  anger ; 
and  Abraham,  the  father  of  the  faithful,  in  unfaithfulness  ;  and 
Peter,  the  fearless,  in  cowardice ;  and  John,  the  apostle  of  love. 


146  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

in  vindictiveness, — Jesus,  Jesus  alone,  never  sinned.  Let  him 
who  knows  any  thing  of  his  own  inner  Hfe,  and  of  the  require- 
ments of  God's  spiritual  law,  say  whether  the  moral  superiority 
of  Jesus  to  himself  is  or  is  not  as  I  have  described.  He  who 
is  most  closely  following,  and  who  most  nearly  resembles 
Jesus,  will  confess  that,  as  high  as  the  heaven  is  above  the 
earth,  so  far  is  the  sinlessness  of  Jesus  above  his  own  imper- 
fection and  sin. 


J.    LEWIS    DIMAN. 

[Orations  and  Essays.    Boston  :  1882.     Pp.  307,  309.] 

Let  us  not  forget  that  man's  normal  nature  is  seen  in 
Christ,  and  not  in  us.  In  our  sweeping  condemnation  of 
human  nature  as  the  world  reveals  it,  let  us  not  blind  our  eyes 
to  the  fact  that  the  world  but  dimly  and  partially  shows  it ;  our 
estimate  of  human  nature  is  sadly  incomplete  if  we  omit  that 
Son  of  man  in  whom  alone  it  was  perfectly  displayed.  His 
spotless  excellence  not  less  truly  illustrates  man  than  all  the 
sin  and  misery  and  guilt  we  mourn.  It  is  this  sense  of  a 
common  nature,  of  a  nature  whose  essential  qualities  and 
capacities  no  sin,  no  degradation,  nor  long  centuries  of  alien- 
ation have  rooted  out,  that  establishes  the  sympathy  between 
us  and  the  Son  of  man.  Without  this  there  were  for  us  no 
redemption.  Because  he  is  the  Son  of  man,  is  he  Saviour  of 
the  world.  We  may  believe  that  this  phrase  was  so  often  on 
his  lips,  because  he  would  have  men  feel  that  with  all  their  sin 
he  was  not  ashamed  to  call  them  brethren.   .   .   . 

When  Pilate  led  Jesus  forth  wearing  the  crown  of  thorns 
and  lh(;  purple  robe,  he  cried  to  the  angry  mob  before  him, 
"  JH^hold  the  viaii  I''  Bui  in  a  sense  far  deeper  than  the 
Roman  governor  intended,  they  saw  tJic  man  ;  not  the  despised 
and  hated  Nazarene  alone,  the  Man  of  sorrows,  who  had  not 
where  to  lay  his  head,  but  tJic  man,  —  the  man  whose  unthroned 
and  unsceptred  manhood  shamed   the  craft  of  priestly  spite 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  147 

and  cowardice  of  kingly  power.  .  .  .  Behold,  then,  the  man  as 
he  stands  revealed  in  his  real  nature  ;  as  he  rises  in  glorified 
majesty  over  all  the  accidents  of  time  ;  as  he  rebukes  with 
his  completeness,  the  hollow,  partial,  distorted  manhood  that 
received  him  not ;  as  he  rules  more  and  more  the  increasing 
purpose  that  runs  through  the  ages  ;  as  he  sits  exalted  over 
each  loftier  reach  of  redeemed,  regenerated  souls,  crowned  in 
endless  adoration  as  Lord  of  all ! 


JOHN    REID. 

[Christ  and  His  Religiox.     New  York:  1880.     Pp.  20,  31,  33-35.] 

There  is  a  beautiful  simplicity  in  the  character  of  Christ. 
Nothing  appears  that  is  forced.  There  is  a  certain  freedom 
and  ease,  that  strike  one  favorably.  His  varied  perfections 
have  as  much  naturalness  about  them  as  the  fruit  of  a  tree. 
His  single  aim,  which  ran  through  the  whole  of  his  life,  made 
his  character  to  be  definite  and  unmixed.  Although  he  may 
appear  strange  to  us,  he  never  appears  strange  to  himself. 
He  has  no  favored  hour  during  which  he  performs  a  class  of 
duties  that  are  remembered  ever  after  as  out  of  the  ranofe 
of  his  common  life. 

The  virtues  of  Jesus  stream  forth  from  his  soul  with  as 
much  naturalness  and  beauty  as  the  rays  of  light  stream  forth 
from  the  sun.  In  fact,  his  character  has  such  sinorleness  and 
delicacy,  that  we  think  of  it  as  formed  out  of  the  unbroken 
rays  of  light.  There  is  an  ethereal  cast  to  it  that  reminds  us 
of  heaven  and  of  God.   .   .  . 

Christ  did  not  merely  have  one  leading  moral  trait,  like 
the  chief  minds  of  the  past,  but  he  had  all  the  moral  traits. 
He  was  not  one-sided.  His  character  does  not  show  streneth 
and  weakness,  beauties  and  deformities.  In  the  working  of  his 
intellect,  he  is  never  at  fault.  There  is  no  false  statement, 
no  false  reasoning.  He  does  not  find  it  necessary  to  change 
his  opinions  by  reason  of  new  light.     Although  his  thoughts 


148  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

are  exceedingly  comprehensive,  entering  into  a  region  where 
men  have  not  been  accustomed  to  go,  he  yet  finds  them  all 
sure.  Even  up  to  this  late  da)',  no  improvement  can  be 
made  upon   his  teaching.   .   .   . 

A  difficulty  which  hinders  us  from  grasping  the  character 
of  Christ  is  the  fact  that  the  character  is  finished.  Our 
character  is  unfinished  at  every  point.  There  is  not  a  single 
faculty  that  works  in  a  normal  way  ;  not  a  single  grace  that  is 
complete  in  itself;  not  one  good  habit  or  good  tendency  that 
is  just  as  it  should  be.  Consequently  we  are  in  no  condition 
to  see  Christ  as  he  stands  before  us  in  his  peerless  perfection. 
...  It  must  be  confessed,  however,  that  there  are  surprises 
of  character  about  Christ.  We  cannot  understand  why  the 
eighteen  Christian  centuries  should  have  fixed  their  gaze  upon 
this  one  person,  if  he  did  not  possess  features  of  goodness 
that  struck  men  with  surprise.  His  complete  disinterested- 
ness stands  out  like  a  sun,  and  his  death  is  such  a  marvel  that 
it  can  never  be  forgotten.  There  were  Alps  of  goodness 
about  him,  rivers  of  purity  beautiful  as  the  Rhine,  cities  of 
righteousness  with  their  palaces  of  love,  that  are  always 
remembered  with  joy.  In  fact,  he  seems  like  a  Holy  Land 
with  its  mountains  and  sea,  its  Plain  of  Esdraelon  and  Jordan 
Valley,  its  Jerusalem  with  its  temple  of  God,  its  Bethlehem 
where  first  he  appeared,  and  its  Calvary  where  he  at  last  went 
away.   .   .   . 

I  may  think  of  the  past,  the  brightest  and  best  ages  of 
the  past :  I  yet  can  see  no  human  being  upon  whom  I  can 
look  with  complete  satisfaction.  I  look  to  Jesus.  I  cannot 
say  he  could  be  better  at  any  point.  Only  with  him  am  I 
satisfied.  He  seems  like  a  majestic  river  that  is  winding  its 
way  through  time,  having  come  from  the  land  of  eternity. 
Yea,  he  seems  like  a  great  world  of  light,  a  new  sun  that  has 
ajopeared  in  the  spaces  of  God :  the  centre  of  a  new  system, 
nobler  and  better  th?n  all  others. 

Although  sixty-two  generations  of  men  have  passed  away 
since  Christ  appeared,  he  has  never  been  reproduced,  neither 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  1 49 

can  we  imagine  any  advanced  diought  or  action  in  die  future 
ages  that  will  give  to  us  a  second  Christ.  He  is  out  of  the 
range  of  the  world's  movement ;  he  is  not  swept  onward  by 
the  winds  and  waves  that  sweep  us  along.  The  glories  of 
heaven  radiate  around  his  spirit,  and  he  tarries  among  us  as 
one  whose  home  is  in  the  bosom  of  God.  With  outstretched 
hands  he  blesses  the  whole  race  of  man.  and  then  departs. 
His  benediction  still  rests  upon  us.  and  his  image  goes  with 
us  in  all  our  journey  of  toil. 


RALPH    WALDO    EMERSON. 

[Prose  Works.     Boston:  1870.    Vol.  i.  pp.  69,  70.] 

Europe  has  always  owed  to  Oriental  genius  its  Divine 
impulses.  What  these  holy  bards  said,  all  sane  men  found 
agreeable  and  true.  And  the  unique  impressions  of  Jesus 
upon  mankind,  w^hose  name  is  not  so  much  written  as  ploughed 
into  the  history'  of  this  world,  is  proof  of  the  settled  virtue 
of  this  infusion.   .   .   . 

Jesus  Christ  belonged  to  the  true  race  of  prophets.  He 
saw  with  open  eye  the  mystery  of  the  soul.  Drawn  by  its 
severe  harmony,  ravished  with  its  beauty,  he  lived  in  it,  and 
had  his  being  there.  Alone  in  all  history,  he  estimated  the 
greatness  of  man.  One  man  was  true  to  what  is  in  you  and 
me.  He  saw  that  God  incarnates  himself  in  man,  and  ever- 
more goes  forth  anew  to  take  possession  of  his  world.  .  .  . 

He  felt  respect  for  Moses  and  the  prophets,  but  no  unfit 
tenderness  at  postponing  their  initial  revelations  to  the  hour 
and  the  man  that  now  is.  to  the  eternal  revelation  in  the  heart. 
Thus  was  he  a  true  man.  Having  seen  that  the  law  in  us 
is  commanding,  he  would  not  suffer  it  to  be  commanded. 
Boldly  with  hand  and  heart  and  life,  he  declared  it  was  God. 
Thus  is  he,  as  I  think,  the  only  soul  in  history  who  has 
appreciated  the  worth  of  a  man. 


4 


I50  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CETTURIES 

STOPFORD  BROOKE. 

[Faith  and  Freedom.     Boston:   1881.     Pp.  79,81.] 

What  that  loving  kindness,  tliat  grace,  was,  lies  before  you 
in  his  life.  It  is  old,  simple,  gracious  human  love,  raised  to 
its  greatest  height  and  tenderness.  It  is  the  showing- forth  of 
all  those  sweet  and  beautiful  qualities  which  make  home  and 
social  life  so  dear,  and  the  showing-forth  of  them  in  perfection. 
It  is  the  filial  tenderness  which  laid  down  the  consciousness  of 
genius  and  all  its  impulses  for  thirty  years  at  the  feet  of  his 
mother,  in  a  quiet  and  silent  life,  which  won  her  pondering 
and  passionate  love.  It  is  the  penetrating  love  which  saw 
into  the  character  of  his  friends,  and  made  them  believe  in 
their  own  capacity  for  greatness,  which  led  men  like  Peter  and 
John  and  James  to  find  out  and  love  one  another,  which 
bound  his  followers  together  in  a  love  that  outlasted  death. 
It  is  the  tender  insight  which  saw  into  the  publican's  heart ; 
which,  when  the  sinner  drew  near  in  tears,  believed  in  her 
repentance,  and  exalted  her  into  a  saint ;  which  had  compas- 
sion on  the  multitude  and  on  the  weariness  of  a  few  ;  which 
wept  over  Jerusalem  and  over  Lazarus  ;  which  never  failed  to 
strike  the  right  chord,  even  with  souls  so  ignorant  as  the 
woman  of  Samaria ;  which  in  all  human  life  and  the  move- 
ments of  its  passions  and  hopes  and  faiths,  did,  said,  and 
thought  the  loving  and  just  thing  at  the  right  moment,  without 
doing  or  saying  the  weak  thing.   .  .  . 

But  there  is  more  in  it  than  this.  Human  love,  left  alone, 
spends  itself  only  on  those  near  to  us,  or  on  those  that  love  us 
in  return,  and,  in  its  form  of  kindness  and  pity,  on  those  whom 
we  compassionate.  Kept  within  a  narrow  circle,  it  tends  to 
have  family  or  a  social  selfishness.  Given  only  to  those  who 
suffer,  it  tends  to  become  self-satisfied.  To  be  perfect,  it 
ought  to  reach,  through  frank  forgiveness,  those  who  injure 
us ;  through  interest  in  the  interests,  ideas,  and  movements  of 
human  progress,  those  who  are  beyond  our  own  circle,  in  our 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 5  I 

nation,  nay,  even  in  the  world  ;  and  finally  all  men,  those  even 
who  are  our  bitterest  foes,  through  desire  that  they  should 
have  good  and  be  good. 

It  was  the  very  glory  of  the  grace  of  Christ,  as  love,  that 
it  rose  into  this  wonderful  height  and  universality.  No  act 
for  his  truest  friend  or  mother  was  more  intense  in  feeling 
than  that  act  in  which  he  laid  down  his  life  for  his  enemies. 
No  love  for  John  or  Peter  was  greater  than  the  love  which 
devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  salvation  of  the  world  of  men 
of  whom  he  knew  nothing  personally.  There  was,  then,  a 
motive  power  behind  his  natural  human  love,  which  lifted  it 
into  a.  diviner  region,  which  made  it  Godlike  in  forgiveness, 
Godlike  in  its  rush  out  of  the  particular  into  the  universal. 
What  was  that  motive  ?  If  we  can  find  it,  we  shall  know  the 
very  root  and  inspiration  of  the  grace  of  Christ.  It  is  easy  to 
find.  It  is  written  in  every  thing  he  said,  but  nowhere  is  it 
written  more  clearly  than  in  the  first  words  of  his  prayer. 
When  he  taught  us  to  pray  "  Our  Father,"  he  told  us  that  it 
was  his  conviction  that  all  men  were  children  of  God,  and  that 
necessarily  all  were  brothers  one  of  another.  It  was  easy  for 
him  to  forgive  a  brother,  even  were  he  an  enemy.  It  was 
easy  for  him  to  die  for  unknown  men,  if  they  were  brothers. 
Christ  felt  it  to  be  an  utterly  beautiful  and  joyful  thing  to  love 
the  sons  of  God,  —  the  sons  of  him  from  whom  he  drew  his 
mission,  to  whom  he  owed  his  love,  from  whom  came  all  the 
souls  for  whom  he  died. 


ELISHA  L.  MAGOON. 

[Republican  Christianitv.     Boston:  1849.     P- 58-] 

Christ  was  the  divinest  of  theologians  :  because  he  taught 
not  in  abstraction,  but  exemplification  ;  not  in  dogmas  merely, 
but  in  deeds  ;  in  the  ardor  of  his  heart,  as  well  as  in  the  energy 
of  his  mind  ;  in  the  gentleness  of  his  demeanor,  and  the 
beneficent  industry  of  his  life.     The  love  of  the  beautiful,  the 


152  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

good,  and  the  true,  were  in  his  soul  never  mutilated,  smothered, 
or  divorced.  From  the  earliest  youth  he  so  deepened  and 
refined  the  sentiment  of  the  beautiful,  that  he  could  not  be 
otherwise  than  good  ;  and  he  so  deepened  and  refined  the 
sentiment  of  the  good,  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  be 
otherwise  than  true.  He  chose  this  order  and  condition  of 
development  here  below,  that  he  might  prepare  for  earth  that 
which  earth  most  needs,  —  men  and  women  in  whom  the 
beautiful,  the  good,  and  the  true  may  be  one,  harmonious  and 
divine,  causing  their  hearts  instinctively  to  soar  towards  heaven 
whenever  they  behold  the  flowers  of  the  field,  the  stars  of  the 
firmament,  and,  with  purer  vision  still,  gaze  on  angels  around 
the  eternal  throne. 


HERRICK  JOHNSON. 

[Christiamty's  Challenge.     New  York:   1881.     Pp.  63,  64] 

Whence  came  Christianity  ?  What  is  its  origin  ?  Such  a 
marvel  as  this  is  not  among  men  without  a  sufficient  cause. 
We  are  in  no  trouble  to  trace  its  history.  It  has  been  too 
mighty  a  force  to  lose  sight  of.  Just  about  eighteen  hundred 
years  it  has  been  in  the  world,  and  no  more.  And,  following 
these,  we  are  taken  back  by  a  path  that  the  boldest  sceptic 
does  not  question,  and  concerning  which  there  is  no  historic 
doubt.  There  we  find  the  origin  of  Christianity,  —  the 
Founder  of  this  new  religion.  He  at  whose  comino;  the  whole 
city  was  moved,  saying,  "Who  is  this?"  and  concerning 
whom  the  multitudes  said  in  reply,  "This  is  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
of  Galilee."  He  is  the  sufficient  cause  of  this  marvel  we  call 
Christianity.  Either  he,  or  there  is  no  cause,  and  history  is  a 
lie,  and  men  are  mocked  with  bubbles  and  {k^A  with  husks. 
All  lines  of  evidence  converge  in  the  (lalilrran,  the  record  of 
whose  life  is  in  the  Four  (lospels. 

Christianity  before  him  was  simpl)-  prophecy  waiting 
fulfilment.     Christianity  issued  out  of  him.     His  personality 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  153 

is  woven  into  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  the  new  rehgion. 
He  can  no  more  be  wrested  from  his  place  in  Christianity, 
than  Christianity  can  be  wrested  from  a  place  in  histor}-. 
Take  Christ  out  of  the  Gospel,  and  you  take  its  heart  out. 


CHRISTIAN    KARL  JOSIAS    BUNSEN. 

[Christianity  and  Mankind.     London:   1854.     Vol.  iv.  p.  204.] 

The  indissoluble  union  between  God  and  man  will  hence- 
forth not  be  carried  on  by  a  new  individual  teacher.  Nobody 
can  lay  a  new  foundation,  after  that  union  has  once  been 
declared  to  be  the  essence  of  religion.  It  will  be  carried  on 
by  that  Spirit  of  God  which  was  in  Jesus,  and  which,  by  his 
being  one  with  God  through  constant  holiness,  made  him  the 
very  mirror  of  the  Father  of  the  eternal  thought  of  divine 
love.  That  Spirit  will  carry  on  the  work  begun  by  Jesus  ;  it 
will  enlighten  and  purify  and  regenerate  man  and  mankind, 
the  individual  and  society. 

[God  in  History.     London:  1S70.     Pp.  7.  8,  40.] 

Even  were  we  destitute  of  that  which  we  actually  possess, 

—  a  veracious  tradition  respecting  the  person  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,  and  the  history  of  his  three  years  of  public  teaching, 

—  a  glance  at  the  mental  development  of  humanity  during 
the  last  eighteen  centuries  would  compel  us  to  assume  the 
existence  of  some  singularly  exalted,  holy  personality  as  the 
cause,  and  not  simply  the  occasion,  of  that  revolution  in  man's 
view  of  the  universe. 

To  nothing  else  than  the  purity  and  universality  of  the 
consciousness  of  God  which  is  reflected  in  the  person  of  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  can  we  ascribe  the  fact  that  the  ideal  of  humanity 
has  emerged  victorious  from  the  ruins  beneath  which  it  seemed 
forever  to  be  entombed,  at  first  in  consequence  of  a  civiliza- 
tion destitute  of  ideals,  and  after\vards  of  a  barbarism  groping 
about  in  blind  ignorance.     Nothing  else  than  the  harmony  of 


154  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

his  doctrine  and  his  Hfe,  with  the  eternal  laws  of  the  moral 
order  of  the  world,  affords  an  adequate  explanation  of  the 
great  fact  that  the  belief  in  the  unity  and  future  re-union  of 
all  mankind  has  never  again  been  lost  since  his  day,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  has  struck  deepest  root  in  the  life  of  the  peoples, 
and  is  constantly  tending  to  rule  the  destinies  of  the  nations 
in  ever-widening  circles.  .  .  . 

If  we  once  more  glance  back  to  that  personality  of  Jesus 
which  is  reflected  in  his  teachings,  the  utter  dissimilarity 
between  him  and  all  other  founders  of  religion  who  have 
preceded  him  becomes  most  conspicuous  precisely  when 
regarded  from  the  point  of  view  taken  from,  our  present 
inquiry.  His  teaching  is  unique  and  purely  divine,  by  the 
very  circumstance  that  it  professes  to  be  pure  self-conscious- 
ness without  any  admixture.  There  is  nothing  in  the  sayings 
above  quoted  that  relates  to  externals ;  nothing  is  borrowed 
from  extraneous  sources,  to  eke  out  the  knowledge  derived 
from  within,  and  serve  as  an  auxiliary  to  the  construction  of 
the  new  religion.  Thus  the  faith  of  Christians  has  two  pivots  : 
one  fixed,  unconditionally  regulated  pivot,  external  to  itself, 
viz.,  the  testimony  of  Jesus  respecting  his  own  divine  con- 
sciousness ;  and  one  fixed  pivot  within  itself,  viz.,  the 
consensus  of  conscience  and  reason. 


THOMAS  DEHANY  BARNARD. 

[Progress  of  Doctrine  in  the  New  Testament.     ISoston :  1S67.     Pp.  60,  61.] 

No  human  being  that  ever  trod  the  earth  has  left  behind 
a  repre.sentation  of  himself  more  clear  and  living,  and  more 
certain  in  its  truthfulness,  than  is  that  which  we  possess  of  the 
prophet  of  Nazareth  and  Galilee. 

From  time:  to  time  some  fresh  portrait  may  appear.  Some 
adventurous  imagination,  charmed  and  yet  perplexed  by  the 
Gospel  story,  may  attempt  to  reconstruct  it  in  accordance 
with  the  spirit  of  the  world.     Unable  to  receive  as  real  the  sole 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  155 

example  of  sinless  humanity,  it  may  introduce  into  the  picture 
touches  of  the  error  and  infirmity  which  are  not  there ;  and 
may  mistake  the  awful  gleams  of  the  indwelling  Godhead  for 
the  glimmer  of  an  enthusiasm  which  deludes  and  is  deluded. 
The  world  may  read  the  bold  romance,  and  half  commend  the 
creation  of  fancy.  But  the  creations  of  fancy  perish  as  they 
rise,  and  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels  remains  ;  not  only  as  a 
perfect  ideal,  but  as  a  vivid  reality,  a  representation  which 
appears,  after  every  fresh  attempt  to  change  it,  more  glorious 
in  majesty  and  beauty,  and  more  conspicuous  for  truthfulness 
and  life. 


JOSEPH    ERNEST    RENAN. 

[The  Life  of  Jesus.     New  York:   1864.     Pp.  215,  365,  375,  376.] 

On  the  day  when  Jesus  pronounced  these  words  [John  iv. 
24]  he  was  indeed  the  Son  of  God.  He,  for  the  first  time, 
gave  utterance  to  the  idea  upon  which  shall  rest  the  edifice 
of  the  everlasting  religion.  He  founded  the  pure  worship,  — 
of  no  age,  of  no  clime,  —  which  shall  be  that  of  all  lofty  souls 
to  the  end  of  time.  Not  only  was  his  religion  that  day  the 
benign  religion  of  humanity,  but  it  was  the  absolute  religion  ; 
and  if  other  planets  have  inhabitants  endowed  with  reason 
and  morality,  their  religion  cannot  be  different  from  that 
which  Jesus  proclaimed  at  Jacob's  well. 

Man  has  not  been  able  to  abide  by  this  worship  ;  it  has 
taken  eighteen  hundred  years  for  humanity  (what  do  I  say ! 
of  an  infinitely  small  portion  of  humanity)  to  learn  to  abide 
it.  But  the  gleam  shall  become  the  full  day ;  and,  after  pass- 
ing through  all  the  circles  of  errors,  humanity  will  return  to 
these  words,  as  to  the  immortal  expression  of  its  faiths  and 
its  hopes. 

The  perfect  idealism  of  Jesus  is  the  highest  rule  of  un- 
worldly and  virtuous  life.  He  has  created  that  heaven  of  free 
souls  in  which  is  found  what  we  ask  in  vain  on  earth,  —  the 
perfect  nobility  of  the  children  of  God,  absolute  purity,  total 


156  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

abstraction  from  the  contamination  of  the  world  ;  that  free- 
dom, in  short,  which  material  society  shuts  out  as  an  impossi- 
bility, and  which  finds  all  its  amplitude  in  the  domain  of 
thought.  The  great  Master  of  those  who  take  refuge  in  this 
ideal  kingdom  of  God  is  Jesus  still.  He  first  proclaimed  the 
kingliness  of  the  spirit ;  he  first  said,  at  least  by  his  acts,  "My 
kingdom  is  not  of  this  world."  The  foundation  of  the  true 
religion  is,  indeed,  his  work.  After  him  there  is  nothing 
more  but  to  develop  and  fructify. 

This  sublime  person,  who  still  presides  over  the  destinies 
of  the  world,  we  may  call  Divine,  not  in  the  sense  that  Jesus 
absorbed  all  divinity,  but  in  this  sense,  that  Jesus  is  that 
individual  who  has  caused  his  species  to  make  the  greatest 
advance  toward  the  Divine.   .   .  . 

In  him  is  condensed  all  that  is  good  and  lofty  in  our 
nature. 

Whatever  may  be  the  surprises  of  the  future,  Jesus  will 
never  be  surpassed.  His  worship  will  grow  young  without 
ceasing ;  his  legend  will  call  forth  tears  without  end ;  his 
sufferings  will  melt  the  noblest  hearts  ;  all  ages  will  proclaim 
that  among  the  sons  of  men  there  is  none  born  greater  than 
Jesus. 

JEAN    BATISTE    HENRI    LACORDAIRE. 

[Jesus  Christ.     New  York  :  1870.     Pp.  18,  19,  22,  24.] 

No  more  venerable  form  than  that  of  Jesus  Christ  has 
dawned  upon  the  horizon  of  history.  The  simple  coiu'se  of 
time  has  placed  him  above  all,  leaving  nothing  visible  that  can 
approach  it.  By  the  consent  of  all,  even  of  those  who  do 
not  believe  in  him,  Jesus  Christ  is  a  good  man,  a  sage,  an 
elect,  an  incomparable  personage.  He  has  done  such  great, 
such  holy  things,  that  even  his  enemies  pay  constant  homage 
to  his  work  and  to  his  person. 

I  may,  then,  stop  here,  since  nothing  is  higher  than  uni- 
versal judgment,  and   since  all    demonstration   appears  weak 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 5  7 

• 

before  a  conclusion  which  ft)rms  part  of  the  common-sense  of 
mankind.  But  I  wish  to  afford  you  the  gratification  of  ana- 
lyzing the  character  of  Christ,  and  of  examining  by  what 
harmony  of  moral  beauties  that  physiognomy  infinitely 
surpasses  the  most  illustrious  forms  which  time  has  produced. 

The  human  character  is  composed  of  three  elements: 
namely,  the  intelligence,  the  seat  of  its  thoughts ;  the  heart, 
the  seat  of  its  feelings ;  the  will,  the  seat  of  its  resolution. 
It  is  the  fusion  of  these  three  elements,  which,  by  its  measure, 
determines  every  moral  type,  and  fixes  its  value.  We  have 
no  need  to  seek  elsewhere  the  secret  of  that  perfection  which 
we  find  in  the  hero  of  the  gospel. 

Great  men  generally  exhaust  their  whole  power  in  their 
thoughts,  and  are  unable  to  impart  more  than  a  feeble  and 
secondary  action  to  their  hearts.  This  is  specially  remarkable 
in  founders  of  empires  and  doctrines,  —  cold,  haughty  men, 
masters  of  themselves,  looking  down  upon  mankind  and 
urging  them  to  and  fro  in  their  hidden  designs,  as  the  w^ind 
waves  a  field  of  corn,  ripe  and  ready  for  the  sickle.  The 
conception  of  their  plans  absorbs  them ;  success  corrupts 
them  by  flattering  their  pride ;  reverse  sours  them  ;  and  all 
things  combine  to  make  them  scornful  of  mankind,  which  is 
for  them  only  as  a  pedestal  erect  or  overthrown.  Even  if  they 
do  not  fall  so  low  in  the  degradation  of  the  heart,  they  are 
not  permitted  to  raise  their  faculty  of  loving  as  high  as  their 
faculty  of  thought.  The  piercing  glance  of  the  eagle  is  not 
naturally  given  to  the  eye  of  the  dove. 

Now,  Jesus  Christ,  under  this  head,  is  an  ever-memorable 
exception,  and  far  above  successful  imitation,  even  by  those 
who  adopt  him  as  the  Master  of  their  souls.  He  carries  the 
power  of  loving  even  to  tenderness,  and  to  a  kind  of  tender- 
ness so  new  that  it  was  needful  to  create  a  name  for  it,  and 
that  it  should  form  a  distinct  species  in  the  analysis  of  human 
feelings,  —  I  mean  the  evangelic  unction.  Jesus  Christ  was 
tender  towards  all  men ;  it  was  he  who  said  of  them : 
"  Whatsoever  you  shall  do  to  the  least  of  these  my  brethren, 


158  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

you  will  have  done  it  unto  me  ;  "•  an  expression  which  intro- 
duced Christian  fraternity  into  the  world,  and  which  still  daily 
engenders  love. 

But  among  great  men  who  are  loved  ?  Among  warriors  ? 
Is  it  Alexander?  Caesar?  Charlemagne?  Among  sages? 
Aristotle  ?  Plato  ?  Who  is  loved  among  great  men  ?  Who  ? 
Name  me  even  one  ;  name  me  a  single  man  who  has  died,  and 
left  love  upon  his  tomb.  Mohammed  is  venerated  by  Mussul- 
mans :  he  is  not  loved.  No  feeling  of  love  has  ever  touched 
the  heart  of  a  Mussulman  repeating  his  maxim:  "God  is 
God,  and  Mohammed  is  his  prophet."  One  man  alone  has 
gathered  from  all  ages  a  love  which  never  fails.  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  sovereign  Lord  of  hearts  as  he  is  of  mind  ;  and  by  a 
grace  confirmatory  of  that  which  belongs  only  to  him,  he  has 
given  to  his  saints  also  the  privilege  of  producing  in  men  a 
pious  and  faithful  remembrance. 


THOMAS   ARMITAGE. 

[Christ:  His  Nature  and  Work.     New  York.     Pp.  125,  126.] 

The  wide  empire  of  his  thought  has  excited  the  wonder 
of  the  world,  as  if  thought  had  never  been  naturalized  in 
any  other  mind.  Every  sentence  which  he  uttered  is  a  master- 
piece of  uniqueness,  as  well  in  its  literature,  as  in  its  philosophy 
and  spirituality. 

There  is  nothing  ill-balanced  or  embarrassed,  feverish  or 
disjointed,  in  his  conversations  or  discourses.  He  is  ever 
tranquil,  measured,  exact,  pungent,  and  self-possessed.  Not 
only  have  we  the  imperial  intellect  in  him,  but  also  its  full 
force  in  the  imperial  heart.  No  other  man  has  ever  existed 
who  was  perfectly  equal,  an  evenly  balanced  unit,  in  his  power 
of  thought  and  emotion,  much  less  the  highest  possible  type  of 
both. 

( )iir  master  human  minds  generally  exhaust  themselves  in 
the  utterance  of  great  thoughts,  because  the  thinking  faculty 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  159 

absorbs  their  whole  being.  But  while  their  whole  being 
becomes  swallowed  up  in  thought,  their  heart  is  correspond- 
ingly impoverished.  To  this  Jesus  is  the  one  mighty  excep- 
tion. Both  these  declarations  are  true  ;  namely,  that  no  man 
ever  reached  his  power  of  thinking,  and  yet  no  man  ever 
reached  his  power  of  loving.  Love  and  light  never  had  such 
a  power  of  blending  as  in  him.  After  a  life  of  ineffable 
luminousness  he  died,  actually  imploring  forgiveness  on  his 
murderers.  The  very  thought  is  stupendous,  while  the  feeling 
is  unfathomable.  When  he  speaks,  he  casts  his  eye  into  the 
infinite  heights  of  revelation,  and  we  soar  into  its  sublimities 
after  him  ;  but  when  he  smiles,  he  presses  us  to  his  bosom, 
and  his  tender  affection  makes  our  hearts  glow  while  we  are 
folded  in  his  arms. 


JOSEPH    P.    THOMPSON. 

[The  Theology  of  Christ.     New  York :  1872.     Pp.  12-14,  263.] 

The  simplicity  with  which  he  utters  the  profoundest  truths 
distinguishes  Jesus  from  all  other  teachers.  It  was  said  of 
the  orations  of  Demosthenes,  they  smelled  of  the  lamp ; 
and  the  attention  of  the  hearer  was  divided  between  what  was 
said,  and  the  labor  bestowed  in  saying  it  well.  The  elaborate 
finish  of  a  Cicero,  a  Burke,  an  Everett,  often  diverts  the  mind 
from  the  thought  to  the  style.  On  the  other  hand,  the  apo- 
thegms of  some  of  the  most  renowned  sages  are  uttered 
with  an  air  of  wisdom  that  offends  the  taste.  But  Jesus  never 
labors  to  make  an  impression,  nor  works  up  an  effect  with 
careful  logic  and  rhetoric.  His  doctrine  drops  as  the  rain, 
and  his  speech  distils  as  the  dew. 

In  listenine  to  him  one  never  feels  that  he  has  exhausted 
himself  while  other  truth  remains  to  be  learned,  but  that  he 
knows  all  truth,  and  contains  it  within  himself.  For  truth,  as 
spoken  by  Christ,  carries  with  it  the  conviction  that  what  he 
utters  is  part  of  himself.     It  is  not  truth  that  he  has  studied 


l6o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

and  developed  as  an  intellectual  system,  as  Copernicus  the 
astronomical,  and  Cudworth  the  intellectual,  system  of  the  uni- 
verse :  it  is  not  a  doctrine  that  he  has  derived  from  another, 
and  teaches  with  his  own  illustrations  and  methods,  as  Plato 
expanded  and  formulated  the  doctrines  of  Socrates ;  but  the 
truth  he  speaks  is  in  and  of  himself.   .  .  . 

The  world  has  not  yet  outgrown  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
Great  advances  have  been  made  in  the  physical  sciences  since 
his  day,  especially  within  our  own  times  ;  but  science  has  dis- 
covered nothing  more  precious  for  the  soul's  culture  than  the 
truths  that  Christ  brought  into  the  world.  The  philosophy 
of  humanity  has  grown  to  a  science  since  Jesus  taught,  but 
this  has  advanced  no  doctrine  of  development  or  perfectibility 
more  elevating  or  more  encouraging  than  his. 

Science  dishonors  itself  when  it  affects  to  ignore  the  teach- 
ings  of  Christ ;  for,  whatever  else  is  brought  to  light,  his 
word  is  both  light  and  life.   .   .   . 

As  the  stroke  of  the  hammer  that  bound  to  its  bed  the 
last  link  of  the  Pacific  Railroad  rang  clear  and  musical  upon 
the  telegraphic  bells  all  over  the  continent,  proclaiming  the 
way  open  from  sea  to  sea,  so  the  words  of  Jesus,  proceeding 
from  the  central  point  of  human  history  where  this  world  was 
linked  once  more  to  heaven,  vibrate  through  the  ages,  in  e\-ery 
clime  and  tongue,  making  musical  the  soul  that  listens  for  their 
coming. 

EDMOND    DE    PRESSENSE. 

[Jesus  Christ:  His  Times,  Like,  and  Work.     London:  1S69.     Pp.  507,  508.] 

Our  Four  Gospels  have  given  us  a  type  of  perfection  such 
as  the  world  has  never  before  or  since  seen  equalled.  This 
high  ideal  is  found  not  as  one  of  those  bold  generalizations, 
which  are  the  fugitive  and  brilliant  dreams  of  the  spirit,  but 
in  the  perfecdy  simple  form  of  a  human  life  unfolded  before 
our  eyes.  The  great  ascetic  of  India  comes  forth,  with  his 
doctrine  of  death,  from  the  depths  of  mysterious  forests,  and 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  l6l 

lays  hold  of  the  imagination  by  the  very  strangeness  of  his 
appearance.  Not  so  with  Jesus,  The  humble  village  in 
which  he  was  brought  up  is  known  to  all.  He  lived  the  com- 
mon life  of  the  lower  classes  of  his  people  ;  he  was  despised 
because  he  sat  at  meat  with  publicans.  He  sought  no 
distinction  by  extravagant  self-mortification,  nor  did  he  make 
any  appeal,  like  Mohammed,  to  the  warlike  passions.  He 
bequeathed  to  his  disciples,  not  the  cimeter  and  its  conquests, 
but  the  cross  and  its  reproach.  In  the  conditions  of  every- 
day life  was  displayed  that  moral  perfection  which  is  without 
a  parallel,  because  it  united  all  the  qualities  elsewhere  found 
apart.   .   .   . 

The  Christ  of  the  Gospels  did  not  come  forth  from  the 
crucibles  of  Alexandrian  philosophy.  He  lived,  and  lived  as 
he  is  made  known  to  us  by  his  apostles.  He  satisfies  at  once 
our  aspirations  after  the  ideal,  by  his  perfect  hohness  ;  and  our 
deep  needs  of  consolation  and  restoration,  by  his  sufferings 
and  sacrifice.  He  meets  us  in  our  greatness  and  our  misery, 
and  therefore  is  called  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  Such  is  our 
conclusion. 

We  will  limit  ourselves  to  one  further  remark.  Besides 
our  Four  Gospels  there  is  a  fifth,  which  has  been  eighteen 
centuries  in  writing.  This  is  the  work  of  Christ  among  man- 
kind. It  bears  witness  to  miracles  as  great  as  those  of  our 
canonical  narratives.  The  track  of  his  footsteps  is  seen 
wherever  there  has  been  any  real  progress  in  good,  in  love, 
in  right,  in  the  moral  elevation  of  men.  No  revolution  in  the 
history  of  the  world  can  be  compared  with  that  which  placed 
the  cross  as  the  boundary  between  two  entirely  different  ages, 
and  which  caused  to  flow  forth  from  the  rock  of  Calvary  a 
river  of  life,  which,  though  at  times  troubled  in  its  course, 
rapidly  purifies  itself  again,  and  goes  on  fertilizing  the  most 
barren  soil.  At  the  basis  of  our  modern  civilization,  lies  the 
thought  of  Jesus. 

For  him  have  suffered  and  perished  the  confessors  of  ages 
of  persecution,  all  declaring  like  the  proto-martyr  that  they 


1 62  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

saw  him  with  the  eye  of  faith.  For  him  thousands  of  heroic 
hearts  in  all  lands  and  ages  have  throbbed  and  bled,  and 
made  sacrifices  unknown  to  fame.  In  every  rank  of  society, 
in  all  stages  of  culture  and  civilization,  —  from  the  burning 
sands  of  Africa  to  the  heart  of  our  brilliant  cities,  —  the  same 
results  have  been  produced,  and  the  same  hymn  of  adoration 
has  ascended  in  honor  of  the  Crucified. 


JOHANN    PETER   LANGE. 

[Life  of  Jesus.     Edinburgh  :  1872.     Vol.  i.  pp.  42,  74,  75.] 

Jesus  asserted  his  spirituality  in  the  presence  of  all  nature. 
And  what  was  the  result  ?  All  nature  began  to  shine  with 
spiritual  brightness  in  the  mirror  of  his  spirit ;  the  birds  of 
heaven  and  the  lilies  of  the  field  became,  through  him, 
thoughts  of  God.  He  contended  for,  and  victoriously  main- 
tained against  the  whole  world,  the  sanctuary  of  his  Divine 
sonship ;  and  therefore  did  the  whole  world  in  its  ruin,  and 
in  its  call  to  blessedness,  begin  to  shine  with  the  light  of  his 
love  and  righteousness.  ...  By  the  solemn  earnestness 
which  consecrated  the  place  on  which  he  stood,  he  trans- 
formed the  world  into  a  sanctuary  of  God  ;  by  the  constant 
energy  in  which  he  lived  in  the  present,  he  transformed  all 
ages  ;  by  the  manner  in  which  he  laid  hold  of  passing  events, 
he  consecrated  them  into  symbols  of  the  world's  history.  Yes, 
the  glory  of  the  personal  life  flowing  from  him  transfigured 
both  earth  and  heaven.   .   .   . 

What  a  solemn  beauty  do  all  his  deeds  exhibit !  A  sab- 
bath glory  rests  on  Canaan  where  they  were  performed  ; 
a  stream  of  eternal  peace  wells  forth  from  his  most  arduous 
conflict  in  Gethsemane  ;  the  accursed  tree  itself  becomes  a 
mark  of  honor  when  once  his  holy  head  touches  it.  .  .  .  The 
characters  by  whom  our  Lord  is  surrounded  as  heroes  of 
recipiency  for  his  spirit,  —  a  Peter,  a  James,  a  John;  the 
dwellings  which  receive  him,  such  as  the  house  at  Bethany ; 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  1 6 


J 


the  dark  or  darkened  beings  who  oppose  him,  —  a  Judas, 
a  Caiaphas,  a  Pilate,  —  how  significant  do  they  become  by 
their  relation  to  Christ,  and  by  the  effect  of  his  light  in  mani- 
festing the  depths  of  human  nature,  of  the  world,  and  of  hell ! 
Yes  ;  every  man  whom  our  Lord  touched,  every  creature, 
every  fleeting  occurrence,  becomes  a  living  mirror,  an 
enlightening  agency  to  the  world. 


J.    MOORHOUSE. 

[HuLSEAx  Lectures,  1865-     London:  1866.     Pp.  100,  loi.] 

Our  Lord's  human  greatness  consisted  pre-eminently  in 
his  perfect  moral  purity,  his  infallible  spiritual  intuition,  and  his 
entire  and  unreserved  devotion  in  the  communion  of  love 
to  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father.  He  possessed  in  perfec- 
tion those  moral  and  spiritual  faculties  which  belong  to  the 
highest  province  of  our  being ;  which,  through  their  regular 
operation,  give  its  true  worth  and  distinctive  character  to 
every  one  of  our  words  and  actions  ;  and  which,  in  fine,  are 
the  property  not  of  any  particular  age,  nation,  or  profession, 
but  of  universal  humanity.  Hence  none  of  those  temporal 
accidents  which  separate  man  from  man  were  able  to  mark  his 
spirit  with  their  peculiarity.  His  character  exhibited  no  tinge 
of  nationality,  no  idiosyncrasy  of  nation,  no  prejudice  of 
creed,  no  scar  of  conflict,  no  one-sidedness  of  asceticism,  no 
obtrusiveness  of  sanctity  ;  but  a  rich,  harmonious  development 
of  all  various  greatness,  wonderful  not  so  much  for  its  brilliant 
outward  form  as  for  its  full  and  intrinsic  loveliness  ;  a  devel- 
opment proceeding  without  pause  or  retrogression,  untroubled 
either  by  sorrow  or  enthusiasm,  suffering  neither  arrest  nor 
deviation  under  the  stress  of  temptation  and  resistance,  but 
advancing  equably  in  its  whole  breadth  of  thought  and  feel- 
ing, intuition  and  sympathy,  until  at  length  it  presented  a 
revelation  of  the  grace  and  glory  of  God  as  complete  as  the 
nature  of  man  could  disclose. 


1 64  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

HENRY    M.    GOODWIN. 

[Christ  AND  Humanity.     New  York:   1875.     Pp- 43^  53>  54-] 

The  title  "  Son  of  man  "  is  not  only  one  of  distinction, 
separating  Christ  from  all  other  men,  but  it  is  generic,  denot- 
ing not  an  individual  of  the  race,  but  humanity  itself,  individu- 
alized in  one  person.  In  other  men  we  see  only  partial  and 
imperfect  specimens  of  humanity ;  we  cannot  see  in  them  or 
gather  from  them  the  true  and  complete  idea  of  humanity,  as 
God  meant  it  to  be.  Even  if  we  combine  all  that  is  highest 
and  best  in  human  biography  and  human  history,  in  all  its 
manifold  developments,  sifting  out  of  it  all  that  is  impure  and 
abnormal,  retaining  only  what  is  genuinely  human,  we  should 
only  approximate,  not  reach,  the  divine  ideal ;  for  this  ideal 
is  ever  higher  and  better  than  mankind  has  yet  attained.  But 
Christ  is  the  realized  Ideal  of  humanity.  He  combined  in 
himself  all  that  belongs  to  the  true  idea  of  man.   .   .   . 

Christ  is  the  universal  man.  He  combines  in  himself,  and 
reconciles  by  uniting,  all  differences  of  nationality,  of  rank  or 
condition,  of  class  or  sex,  and  of  kindred  ;  so  that  all  that 
is  really  human,  and  not  sinful,  meets  and  is  represented  in 
him  in  its  integral  and  perfect  form.  .  .  .  The  distinction  of 
sex  is  not  confined  to  the  body,  but  runs  through  mind  and 
soul  and  character,  dividing  humanity  —  not  its  outward  form 
merely  —  into  two  parts,  male  and  female.  That  is,  the  one 
substance  or  being  of  humanity  was  divided  at  its  root  into 
these  two  opposite  branches  or  types,  both  of  which  together 
constitute  humanity,  neither  of  which  alone  fully  represents 
the  true  idea  of  man.  No  one  man,  who  was  merely  man, 
ever  yet  arose  above  this  organic  difference,  so  as  to  combine 
in  himself,  in  kill  m(;asure,  both  the  masculine  and  the  femi- 
nine type  of  humanity.  There  have  been  men  with  certain 
feminine  attributes,  and  there  are  women  with  certain  mascu- 
line qualities  predominant ;  but  never  a  human  being  with  all 
the  attributes  of  man  and  woman  blended  in  perfection.     \\\ 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  165 

Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  man,  this  union  or  unity  alone  is 
seen.  In  him  neither  was  found  •exclusively,  but  both  in 
perfect  balance.  There  was  in  him  all  that  was  most  manly, 
and  all  that  was  most  womanly.  In  him  we  see  blended  the 
strength  and  wisdom  and  authority  of  nianhood,  with  the  tact 
and  delicacy  and  intuitive  discernment  of  womanhood.  .  .  . 
Thus  we  see  that  what  is  implied  in  the  expression  "  Son  of 
man,"  is  the  generic  humanity  of  Christ,  or  as  comprehending 
the  whole  of  humanity  in  his  own  person.  He  belonged  to 
no  particular  age,  but  to  all  ages ;  he  had  not  the  qualities  of 
one  clime  or  race,  but  that  which  is  common  to  all  climes  and 
all  races.  He  belonged  to  no  one  class,  rank,  or  sect,  but 
transcended  them  all,  and  comprehended  them  all  in  his  higher 
humanity.  Not  even  the  distinctions  of  family  and  sex  could 
confine  his  nature  or  his  character,  which  knew  no  limitations 
but  those  which  belong  to  man  as  man,  or  rather  to  the 
Divine  idea  of  humanity. 


JOSEPH   JOHN    MURPHY. 

[The  Scientific  Basis  of  Faith.     London:  1873.     Pp.  184,  185.] 

Christ's  originality  consisted  rather  in  the  use  of  old 
truths  than  in  the  discovery  of  new  ones.  In  moralit}'  it  may 
be  true,  though  I  think  it  an  exaggerated  statement,  that 
Christ  discovered  no  new  principles,  and  uttered  no  new  pre- 
cepts ;  but  he  certainly  invented  a  new  type  of  moral  excel- 
lence. In  ethics  it  is  the  same.  Mankind  can  never  have 
been  altogether  ignorant  of  the  importance  of  belief,  and  the 
power  of  personal  influence,  in  the  formation  of  character ; 
but  Christ  was  the  first  who  founded  a  vast  system  of  ethics 
on  these  truths.  No  one  before  him  could  have  uttered  those 
wonderful  words  :  "Thou  sayest  that  I  am  a  King.  To  this 
end  I  was  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that 
I  should  bear  witness  to  the  truth."  Love  of  truth  was  a 
virtue   not  unknown   to   the   ancient  world,  but   the  idea  of 


1 66  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

reigning  in  men's  hearts  by  the  power  of  truth  was  thought 
of  by  none  before  Christ.  That  which  was  original  in  his 
system  was  the  discovery  of  a  new  motive  power  in  morals, 
and  the  motive  power  was  his  own  character.  Belief  in  the 
truths  he  taught,  and*  faith  in  himself,  constituted  his  plan  for 
influencing  mankind. 


NOAH    PORTER. 

[Boston  Lectures  for  1870.     Boston:   1870.     Pp.363,  366,  367.] 

What  artist  could  depict  the  portrait  of  Christ  if  there  had 
been  no  reality  from  which  to  copy  ?  The  invention  of  such 
a  character,  combining  so  many  seemingly  incompatible  ele- 
ments, and  uttering  seemingly  inconsistent  and  paradoxical 
claims  for  his  person  and  his  kingdom,  is  itself  a  superhuman 
product,  which  the  historical  critic  cannot  account  for  on 
purely  natural  principles,  because,  in  avoiding  one  form  oi  the 
supernatural,  he  must  resort  to  another.  The  supernatural 
which  h»  would  shun,  on  the  one  hand,  is  the  existence  of  the 
reality ;  but,  in  explaining  this  away,  he  supposes  an  hypothe- 
sis which  is  even  more  difficult  to  receive,  i.e.,  he  accepts  a 
supernatural  which  is  still  more  incredible,  —  the  fact  that  it 
was  invented.   .   .   . 

No  stories  of  hujnan  duty  and  self-sacrifice  are  more 
instructive  and  more  animating  than  the  stories  which  Christ 
taught  in  parable  and  precept,  and  himself  enacted  in  his  life. 
The  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  of  the  unjust  steward, 
of  the  wise  and  foolish  virgins,  of  the  woman  that  was  a 
sinner,  of  the  unforgiving  creditor ;  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount; 
above  all,  the  Christ  who  healed  the  sick,  and  who  counselled 
and  spake  forgiveness,  who  pleased  not  himself,  who  went 
about  doing  good,  who  loved  his  own  to  the  end,  who  prayed 
at  Gethsemane,  who  meekly  endured  Caiaphas  and  the  frantic 
Sanhedrim,  who  did  not  smite  the  treacherous  Judas,  who 
looked  so  lovingly  upon  the  faithless  Peter,  who  prayed  upon 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 67 

the  cross,  "  Father,  forgive  them,"  and  commended  his  mother 
to  the  beloved  disciple,  —  are  all  teachings  and  enforcements 
of  duty  which  neither  history  nor  fable  in  the  literature  of  the 
world  has  yet  surpassed,  and  which  are  more  effective  than 
any  and  all  other  precepts  and  motives  which  the  world  has 
yet  witnessed  or  produced.   .   .   . 

In  the  truths  that  Christ  uttered  and  enacted,  there  are  the 
materials  for  extensive  systems  of  scientific  thought.  Most 
of  these  truths  are  capable  of  taking  a  place  in  the  most  intri- 
cate and  profound  of  sciences.  Now,  what  is  remarkable  in 
Christianity  is,  that  these  germinant  and  productive  scientific 
truths  are  not  given  at  all  in  any  scientific  form,  but  are  either 
stated  in  simple  and  popular  diction,  or  are  left  to  be  inferred 
from  the  tremendous  facts  which  suggest  them.  In  other 
words,  what  is  most  extraordinary  in  Christianity,  what  is 
itself  superhuman,  and  well  might  prove  the  system  to  be 
divine,  is  not  so  much  the  doctrines  that  it  makes  known,  as 
the  fact  that  these  doctrines  are  taught  by  history. 


WILLIAM    LINDSAY    ALEXANDER. 

[Christ  and  Christianity.    Edinburgh:  1854.     Pp.  126-128,  131  et seq\ 

In  contemplating  the  character  of  our  Lord,  it  cannot  fail 
to  strike  every  one  that  it  is  absolutely  faultless.  His  histo- 
rians nowhere  say  that  his  character  was  faultless,  but  they 
never  place  him  in  an  attitude  in  which  we  can  detect  a  single 
fiaw  in  his  mental  or  moral  development.  We  see  him,  in  the 
course  of  their  narrative,  under  a  great  variety  of  aspects  and 
in  many  different  lights  ;  but  the  picture  is  alike  perfect  in 
each.  .  .  .  We  see  him  brought  into  relation  with  people  of 
every  class  and  character,  —  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor, 
young  and  old,  learned  and  ignorant,  soldier  and  priest,  lawyer 
and  rabbi,  prince  and  peasant,  Pharisee  and  Sadducee,  the 
devotee  of  the  temple,  the  student  of  the  schools,  the  money- 
changer of  the   market-place,  and  the   harlot  of  the  streets. 


1 68  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Never  was  a  life  in  all  its  phases  more  faithfully  and  fairly  laid 
before  us.  And  what  is  the  impression,  which,  from  the  con- 
templation of  him  in  all  these  changes  of  outward  circum- 
stances and  relations,  is  left  upon  the  mind  of  the  reader  as 
to  his  character?  Is  it  not  by  universal  consent  this?  that 
here  is  one  who  is  absolutely  superior  to  circumstances  ; 
one  on  whose  serene  and  lofty  spirit  the  changes  that  affect 
sublunary  interests  can  produce  no  permanent  or  injurious 
impressions  ;  one  for  whom  his  friends  never  had  to  make  an 
apology,  for  whom  the  impartial  critic  needs  not  to  demand 
any  forbearance,  in  whom  the  keenest-sighted  of  his  enemies 
can  find  no  fault ;  one  whom  no  transient  weakness  from 
within,  no  cunning  temptation  or  frowning  terror  from  without, 
could  divert  for  a  single  moment  from  his  onward  career  of 
virtue,  beneficence,  and  purity  ;  one,  in  short,  who,  tried  by 
the  loftiest  standard  of  spiritual  excellence,  must  be  pro- 
nounced, in  the  language  of  a  disciple  who  had  seen  as  much 
of  him  as  any  man  whilst  he  was  on  earth.  "  without  blemish 
and  without  spot."  In  this  judgment  all  impartial  minds  have 
concurred.   .   .   . 

In  the  character  of  Christ,  there  is  a  display  of  ever)'^ 
excellence.  The  more  closely  we  study  it,  the  more  shall 
we  be  struck  with  this.  It  is  not  the  presence  of  one  or 
two  great  qualities  that  command  our  reverence  :  it  is  the 
extraordinary  combination  of  excellence  which  it  displays,  that 
constitutes  its  peculiar  attraction.  Meekness  and  majesty, 
firmness  and  gentleness,  zeal  and  prudence,  composure  and 
warmth,  patience  and  sensibility,  submissiveness  and  dignity, 
sublime  sanctity  and  tender  sympathy,  piety  that  rose  to 
the  loftiest  devotion,  and  benevolence  that  could  stoop  to  the 
meanest  sufferer,  intense  abhorrence  of  sin.  and  profound 
compassion  for  the  sinner,  mingle  their  varied  rays  in  the 
tissue  of  our  Saviour's  character,  and  produce  a  combination 
of  virtues  such  as  the  world  never  saw  besides,  and  such  as  the 
most  sanguine  enthusiasm  never  ventured  to  anticipate.  .  .  . 

In  short,  view  our  Lord  at  any  stage  of  his  earthly  career, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  169 

and  under  any  of  die  circumstances  in  which  the  Evangelists 
have  represented  him,  and  we  see  the  same  completeness  of 
character,  the  same  unparalleled  combination  of  excellence,  the 
existence  of  any  one  of  which  in  an  ordinary  mortal,  in 
the  degree  in  which  they  all  appear  in  Christ,  would  draw 
towards  him  the  admiration  of  all  who  knew   him. 


THOMAS    CARLYLE. 

[Sartor  Resartus.     Pp.  155,  158.] 

Highest  of  all  religious  symbols  are  those  wherein  the 
artist  or  poet  has  risen  into  a  prophet;  and  all  men  can  recog- 
nize a  present  God,  and  worship  the  same.  If  thou  ask  to 
what  length  man  has  carried  it  in  this  manner,  look  on  our 
divinest  symbol,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  his  life  and  his  biog- 
raphy, and  what  followed  therefrom.  Higher  has  the  human 
thought  not  yet  reached:  this  Christianity  and  Christendom, — 
a  symbol  of  quite  perennial,  infinite  character,  whose  signifi- 
cance will  ever  demand  to  be  anew  inquired  into,  and  anew 
made  manifest.   .   .  . 

Sublimer  in  this  world  know  I  nothing  than  a  peasant 
saint,  could  such  now  anywhere  be  met  with.  Such  a  one 
will  take  thee  back  to  Nazareth.  Thou  wilt  see  the  splendor 
of  heaven  spring  forth  from  the  humblest  depths  of  earth, 
like  a  light  shining  in  great  darkness. 


HENRY   WARE,   JUN. 

[Works.     Boston:   1847.     Vol.  iv.  p.  126.] 

It  is  impossible  to  contemplate  the  character  and  offices 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  without  perceiving  that  exalted 
honor  is  due  to  him.  The  insensibility  of  that  man  can  hardly 
be  conceived,  who  should  be  able  to  question  or  withhold  it. 
We  yield  a  tribute  of  respect  to  the  good  men  with  whom  we 


170  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

meet  in  the  ordinar\-  intercourse  of  life,  and  every  distinguished 
benefactor  is  accounted  to  deserve  the  gratitude  and  respect 
of  his  fellow-men.  Xo  one,  therefore,  who  has  the  common 
feelings  of  a  man,  can  deny  to  Jesus  Christ  his  claims  to 
reverence,  gratitude,  and  honor,  whose  character  exhibits  the 
perfection  of  moral  excellence,  and  whose  history  is  connected 
with  the  most  wonderful  works  of  universal  benevolence  wor- 
thy the  counsels  of  heaven.  Even  those  who  have  rejected 
his  revelation,  and  denied  his  authority  as  a  divine  messenger, 
have  been  unable  to  speak  of  him  in  any  accents  but  those 
of  admiration.  One  of  the  most  eloquent  tributes  in  his 
praise  was  from  the  pen  of  an  open  infidel.  What,  then, 
should  be  the  feelings  of  his  disciples  ?  Their  hearts  must 
surely  burn  within  them  when  they  think  of  him. 


WILLIAM    E.    H.    LECKY. 

[History  of  European  Morals.     London:   1869.     Vol.  ii.  p.  9.] 

The  Platonist  exhorted,  men  to  imitate  God  ;  the  Stoic,  to 
follow  reason  ;  the  Christian,  to  the  love  of  Christ.  Epictetus, 
the  Stoic,  had  ev^en  urged  his  disciples  to  set  before  them  some 
man  of  surpassing  excellence,  and  to  imagine  him  continually 
near  them  ;  but  the  utmost  the  Stoic  ideal  could  become  was 
a  model  for  imitation,  and  the  admiration  it  inspired  could 
never  deepen  into  affection. 

It  was  reserved  for  Christianity  to  present  to  the  world  an 
ideal  character,  which,  through  all  the  changes  of  eighteen 
centuries,  has  inspired  the  hearts  of  men  with  an  impassioned 
love,  has  shown  itself  capable  of  acting  on  all  ages,  nations, 
temperaments,  and  conditions  ;  has  becMi  not  only  the  highest 
pattern  ol  virtue,  but  the  strongest  incentive  to  its  practice; 
and  has  exercised  so  deep  an  influence,  that  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  the  simple  record  of  three  short  years  of  active  life 
has  done  more  to  regenerate  and  soften  mankind  than  all  the 
tlisquisitions  of  philosophers  and  all  the;  exhortations  of  moral- 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  I  7 1 

ists.  This  has,  indeed,  been  the  well-spring  of  whatever  is 
best  and  purest  in  the  Christian  life.  Amid  all  the  sins  and 
failings,  amid  all  the  priestcraft  and  persecution  and  fanaticism, 
that  have  defaced  the  Church,  it  has  preserved,  in  the  char- 
acter and  example  of  its  Founder,  an  enduring  principle  of 
regeneration, 

R.    \V.    DALE. 

[The  Atonement.     London  :  1878.     Pp.  38,  39,  436-438.] 

The  resources  of  human  language  had  been  almost 
exhausted,  before  Christ  came,  in  the  attempt  to  discover  the 
majesty,  the  holiness,  and  mercy  of  God  ;  and  although  as  a 
teacher  of  religious  truth  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  had  a  unique 
power,  we  misapprehend  the  character  of  the  supremacy  which 
he  claimed,  if  we  suppose  that  it  is  to  be  illustrated  and  vindi- 
cated by  placing  his  mere  words  side  by  side  with  the  words 
of  prophets  who  preceded  him.  I  doubt  whether  he  ever  said 
any  thing  about  the  Divine  compassion  more  pathetic,  or  more 
perfectly  beautiful,  than  had  been  said  by  the  writer  of  the 
hundred  and  third  Psalm :  "  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him.  For  he 
knoweth  our  frame  ;  he  remembereth  that  we  are  dust."  It  is 
not  in  the  words  of  Christ  that  we  find  a  deeper  and  fuller 
revelation  of  the  Divine  compassion  than  in  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist,  but  in  his  deeds.   .   .   . 

The  power  of  the  great  sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the  world 
lies  in  itself,  and  not  in  our  explanations  of  it.  Even  when 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church  has  been  most  corrupt,  the  death 
of  Christ  has  continued  to  appeal  to  the  hearts  of  men  with 
unique  and  all  but  irresistible  force.   .   .   . 

For  nearly  two  centuries,  the  nations  of  Western  and 
Southern  Europe  were  inspired  with  a  common  enthusiasm 
and  a  common  purpose.  Princes  mortgaged  their  kingdoms, 
nobles  sold  their  lands,  scholars  deserted  their  books,  the 
common    people    left    their    homes,    to   join    the    armies    of 


172  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

the  cross,  and  to  rescue  the  Holy  Land  from  the  infidel. 
The  hearts  of  little  children  caught  fire  ;  and  they  gathered 
in  thousands,  and  tried  to  make  their  way  across  unknown 
countries,  through  dark  forests  and  over  great  rivers,  to  share 
the  sanctity  and  glory  of  the  enterprise.  And  what  was  the 
supreme  object  of  that  romantic  and  heroic  struggle  ?  It  was 
not  to  rescue  the  site  of  the  ruined  cities  in  which  Christ  had 
revealed  his  beneficent  and  supernatural  power,  —  healing  the 
sick,  giving  sight  to  the  blind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  and  speech 
to  the  dumb  ;  nor  the  village  on  the  eastern  slope  of  Olivet, 
in  which  he  had  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead  ;  nor  the  little 
town  among  the  limestone  hills  of  Galilee,  which  was  the  home 
of  his  childhood  and  his  youth. 

The  sepulchre  of  Christ  was  dearer  and  more  sacred  to 
the  hearts  of  the  Crusaders  than  all  the  scenes  of  his  living 
ministry ;  and  while  that  was  in  the  hands  of  the  unbelievers, 
it  seemed  to  them  that  Christendom  was  faithless  to  the 
memory  of  its  Lord.  They  were  guilty  of  shameful  crime,  but 
the  whole  movement  is  a  singular  proof  of  the  strong  and 
mighty  power  of  the  death  of  Christ  over  the  imagination 
and  passions  of  mankind.  Nor  can  I  doubt  that  in  those 
vast  armies,  whose  covetousness  and  treachery  and  cruelty 
and  lust  made  the  Christian  name,  infamous  throughout  the 
East,  there  were  mijltitudes  of  men  of  pure  life  and  noble 
temper,  whose  hearts  had  been  inspired  by  the  death  of  Christ 
with  penitence  and  hope  and  immeasurable  gratitude  ;  and 
who,  because  they  knew  of  no  other  way  in  which  they  could 
consecrate  their  strength  and  valor  to  Christ's  service, 
resolved  to  rescue  his  sepulchre  from   its  dishonor. 

In  modern  Jerusalem  there  is  no  more  affecting  sight  than 
that  which  is  witnessed,  at  every  Easter  festival,  in  the  chapel 
erected  over  the  spot  on  which,  according  to  the  tradition 
both  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Church,  the  Saviour  of 
mankind  was  crucified.  Across  the  marble  floor,  hour  after 
hour  in  (Midless  succession,  pilgrims  of  many  nations  and  of 
many  tongues  move   slowly  on   their  knees,  with    streaming 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  l  -j^ 

tears  and  every  manifestation  of  deep  and  reverential  devo- 
tion ;  and  when  they  reach  the  sacred  rock  in  which  they 
beHeve  that  the  cross  was  fixed,  they  cover  it  with  passionate 
kisses. 

The  tradition  is  untrustworthy,  the  devotion  superstitious ; 
but  who  can  tell  what  love  and  faith  and  worship  Christ  may 
recognize  in  the  hearts  of  those  who,  in  this  rude  way,  are 
fulfilling  his  own  words,  "I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me  "  ? 


HENRY   ALLOW. 

[Supernatural  Character  of  Christianity.     New  York:  1873.     Pp.  281,  282.] 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  one  perfect  man  of  the  world's  history, 
the  one  hope  of  a  world  of  sinful  men  ;  so  divine  that  the 
loftiest  and  purest  do  worship  to  him,  so  human  that  the  most 
polluted  and  lost  can  weep  at  his  feet,  and  little  children  can 
smile  in  his  arms  while  he  blesses  them.  His  was  a  life  in 
which  there  was  no  fault  to  be  corrected,  no  stain  to  be  washed 
out.   .   .  . 

All  human  excellences  blend  in  him  in  perfect  proportion, 
an  ideal  of  moral  symmetry,  which  has  neither  defect  nor 
excess.  His  self-consciousness  is  altogether  unlike  that  of 
other  men.  Moses  and  Isaiah  may  tremble  before  God,  and 
acknowledge  their  sin,  Jesus  never  confesses  defeat,  never 
indicates  any  feeling  of  unworthiness.  No  tear  of  repentance 
rolls  down  his  cheek ;  no  prayer  for  forgiveness  escapes  his 
lips.  When  he  speaks  concerning  himself,  it  is  to  assert 
his  own  faultlessness,  and  to  avow  himself  the  divine  source 
of  other  men's  spiritual  life.  So  transcendent  was  he,  that 
from  the  very  beginning  men  revered  his  goodness  as  perfect, 
and  bowed  before  it  as  divine.  Virtues  almost  incongruous 
wonderfully  blend  in  him,  —  greatness  and  gentleness,  holi- 
ness and  pity,  strength  and  sympathy.  He  is  nobler  than  the 
greatest  man,  more  tender  than  the  gentlest  woman. 


1  74  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

WII.L.IAM    MORLEY    PUNSHON. 

[Lectures  and  Sermons.    Toronto:    1876.    P.  371.] 

There  is  but  one  royal  lawgiver.  There  must  be  no 
division  of  authority,  no  admixture  of  legislative  claims. 
"Jesus  only,"  reigning  in  unchallenged  and  sole  lordship  over 
each  heart  and  mind.  Christ  is  the  lawgiver  to  his  Church 
for  all  time.  Prophets  and  apostles  are  valuable  to  us  only 
as  they  repeat  the  words  of  Christ.  Holy  men  and  confessors, 
we  rejoice  in  them  because  they  give  to  us  transcripts  of 
Christ,  —  laws,  decretals,  confessions,  catechisms,  creeds;  we 
accept  them  only  as  they  are  in  agreement  with  the  words  of 
Jesus.  Let  a  thousand  rubrics  or  canons  condemn  what  Christ 
hath  not  condemned,  we  may  snap  them  as  Samson  the  withes 
with  which  they  sought  to  bind  him.  Let  a  thousand  enact- 
ments enforce  what  Christ  hath  forbidden,  and  disobedience 
becomes  a  Christian  duty,  and  brave  death  were  preferable  to 
life  unworthy  and  dishonored. 


THOMAS    HUGHES. 

[The  Manliness  of  Christ.     New  York  :   1880.     P.  46.] 

In  all  the  world's  annals  there  is  nothing  which  approaches, 
in  the  sublimity  of  its  courage,  that  last  conversation  between 
the  peasant  prisoner  and  the  Roman  procurator,  before  Pilate 
led  him  forth  for  the  last  time  and  pleaded  scornfully  with  his 
nation  for  the  life  of  their  king.  The  canon  from  which  we 
started  must  guide  us  to  the  end.  There  must  be  no  flaw  or 
sjjot  on  Christ's  courage,  any  more  than  on  his  wisdom  and 
tenderness  and  sympathy.  And  for  the  last  time  I  repeat,  the 
more  unflinchingly  we  apply  the  test,  the  more  clear  and  sure 
will  the  response  come  back  to  us.  We  have  been  told 
recently,  by  more  than  one  of  those  who  professed  to  have 
weighed  and  measured  Christianity  and  found  it  wanting,  that 


ro  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  175 

rclio^ion  must  rest  on  reason,  based  on  phenomena  of  this  visi- 
ble, tangible  world  in  which  we  are  living.  Be  it  so.  There 
is  no  need  for  a  Christian  to  object.  He  can  meet  this  chal- 
lenge as  well  as  any  other.  We  need  never  to  be  careful  about 
choosing  our  own  battle-field.  Looking,  then,  at  the  world  as 
we  see  it,  laboring  heavily  along  in  our  own  time,  —  as  we  hear 
of  it  through  the  records  of  the  ages,  —  I  must  repeat  that 
there  is  no  phenomenon  in  it  comparable  for  a  moment  to  this 
of  Christ's  life  and  work.  The  more  we  canvass  and  sift  and 
weigh  and  balance  the  materials,  the  more  clearly  and  grandly 
does  his  figure  rise  before  us,  as  the  true  head  of  humanity, 
the  perfect  ideal,  not  only  of  wisdom  and  tenderness  and  love, 
but  of  courage  also,  because  he  was  and  is  the  simple  truth 
of  God,  —  the  expression  at  last,  in  flesh  and  blood,  of  what 
he  who  created  us  means  each  one  of  our  race  to  be. 


WILLIAM    RATHBONE    GREG. 

[The  Creed  of  Christendom.     London:  1874.     Pp.  168,  177.] 

It  is  difficult,  without  exhausting  superlatives,  even  to 
inexpressive  and  wearisome  satiety,  to  do  justice  to  our 
intense  love,  reverence,  and  admiration  for  the  character  and 
teachings  of  Jesus.  We  regard  him  as  the  perfection  of  the 
spiritual  character,  —  as  surpassing  all  men  of  all  times  in 
the  closeness  and  depth  of  his  communion  with  the  Father. 
In  reading  his  sayings,  we  feel  that  we  are  holding  converse 
with  the  wisest,  purest,  noblest  Being  that  ever  clothed 
thought  in  the  poor  language  of  humanity.  In  studying  his 
life  we  feel  that  we  are  following  the  footsteps  of  the  highest 
ideal  yet  presented  to  us  upon  earth.   .   .   . 

We  believe  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  the  most  exalted  reli- 
gious genius  whom  God  ever  sent  upon  the  earth.  In  himself 
an  embodied  revelation  ;  humanity  in  its  divinest  phase,  "  God 
manifest  in  the  flesh,"  according  to  Eastern  hyperbole  ;  an 
exemplar  vouchsafed,  in  an  early  age  of  the  world,  of  what 


I  76  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

man  ma)'  and  should  become  in  the  course  of  ages,  in  his 
progress  towards  the  reaHzation  of  his  destiny ;  an  individual 
0-ifted  with  a  erand.  clear  intellect,  a  noble  soul,  a  hne  oroani- 
zation,  marvellous  moral  intuitions,  and  a  perfectly  balanced 
moral  being ;  and  who.  by  virtue  of  these  endowments,  saw 
farther  than  all  other  men.  — 

••  Beyond  the  verge  of  that  blue  sky, 
Where  God's  subliniest  secrets  lie." 


ANDREWS    NORTON. 

[Statement  of  Reasons.    Boston:  1S70.     Pp.  414.  426.] 

It  is  one  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  the  teaching 
of  Christ,  that  the  distinction  between  the  essential  truths  of 
religion  and  all  other  doctrines,  true  or  false,  was  never  con- 
founded by  him.  He  fixed  the  attention  of  his  hearers  only 
upon  what  it  most  concerned  them  to  know  as  religious  beings, 
that  is,  as  creatures  of  God  and  heirs  of  immortality.  In 
order  to  effect  this  purpose  it  was  necessary  for  him  to  confine 
his  teachinor  to  the  essential  truths  of  relio;ion.  If  he  had 
done  otherwise,  if  he  had  labored  to  correct  the  errors  of  his 
hearers  upon  subjects  of  minor  importance,  and  to  place  the 
truth  distinctly  before  them  in  all  those  new  relations  which  it 
might  present,  his  hearers  would  unavoidably  have  confounded 
the  doctrines  thus  taught  them  upon  divine  authority,  with 
those  essential  principles  which  alone  it  was  the  purpose  of 
God  to  announce.  Their  imaginations  and  feelings  might 
perhaps  have  been  more  occupied  about  what  it  was  of  little 
consequence  for  them  to  know,  than  about  truths  which  it  was 
of  the  highest  concern  that  they  should  understand  themselves, 
and  be  qualified  to  teach  to  others. 

The  wisdom  and  the  self-restraint  (for  so  it  is  to  be  con- 
sidered) of  our  .Saviour,  in  confining  his  teaching  to  the  essen- 
tial truths  of  religion,  and  the  broad  distinction  which  he  thus 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  177 

made  between  these  and  all  other  doctrines,  appear  to  me 
among  the  most  striking  proofs  of  the  divinity  of  his  mission. 
I  cannot  believe  that  a  merely  human  teacher  would  have 
conducted  himself  with  such  perfect  wisdom  ;  that  he  would 
never  have  attempted  to  use  his  authority,  or  have  displayed 
his  superior  knowledge,  in  maintaining  other  truths  than  those 
which  essentially  concern  the  virtue  and  happiness  of  mankind; 
that  he  would  have  refrained  from  exposing  or  contradicting 
the  errors  of  his  opponents  on  any  other  subjects ;  that  he 
would  have  succeeded  in  communicating  to  his  disciples  those 
principles  which  are  the  foundation  of  all  religion  and  morahty, 
without  perplexing  their  minds  by  the  discussion  of  any  topics 
less  important ;  and,  at  last,  have  left  his  doctrine  a  monument 
for  all  future  time,  —  not  like  the  works  of  some  enlightened 
men,  which  perish  with  the  errors  they  destroy,  but  remaining 
a  universal  code  of  instruction  for  mankind. 


CHR.    ERNST    LUTHARDT. 

[Truth  of  Christianity.    Edinburgh:  1S65.   Pp.  224,  225,  254,  273,  274,  276,  2S7,  2S8  ] 

Christianity  appeared  in  the  world,  not  as  a  system  of 
philosophy,  not  as  a  code  of  morality,  but  as  an  actual  fact,  — 
the  fact  of  the  individual  Christ  Jesus.  All  depends  on  him.- 
With  him  Christianity  stands  or  falls.  It  cannot  be  separated 
from  him.  It  was  not  his  precepts,  but  his  person,  and  his 
testimony  concerning  himself,  which  brought  about  the  crisis 
of  Israel.  He  himself  made  his  whole  cause  depend  upon 
his  person.  Jesus  Christ  does  not  bear  the  same  relation  to 
Christianity  as  Mohammed  does  to  Mohammedanism,  or  as 
any  other  founder  of  a  religion  to  the  religion  he  has  founded, 
but  he  is  himself  Christianity.  .  .  . 

Jesus  himself  neither  composed  nor  bequeathed  to  us  any 
writings  ;  for  he  was  no  philosopher,  or  founder  of  a  religion, 
in  the  ordinary  sense.  His  person  and  his  work  are  the 
writings  which  he  inscribed  in  broad  characters  on  the  history 


178  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

of  mankind ;  and  the  work  of  his  Spirit  in  the  heart  is  the 
epistle  which  he  is  day  by  day  inscribing  in  ineffaceable 
characters  within  us.  .  .  . 

If  ever  love  appeared  on  earth,  it  appeared  under  the  form 
of  gentleness  and  meekness  in  Christ.  But  over  the  form  of 
the  meek  Saviour  of  sinners  are  shed  a  glory  and  majesty  which 
cause  us  involuntarily  to  bow  the  knee  before  him.  Who  can 
contemplate  him  in  his  silent  course  without  feeling  that  there 
is  in  him  a  mysterious  and  hidden  majesty,  and  seeing  it 
shine  forth  from  his  every  word  and  deed  ? 

There  is  dis-harmony  in  the  life  of  every  other  man.  Those 
two  poles  of  mental  life,  knowledge  and  feeling,  head  and 
heart ;  those  two  powers  of  the  moral  life,  the  reason  and  the 
will,  —  where  shall  we  find  them  in  unison?  In  the  case  of 
Jesus,  on  the  contrary,  we  are  vividly  impressed  with  the 
feeling  that  perfect  harmony  prevails  in  his  mental  life.  There 
is  absolute  peace  in  his  inmost  being.  It  is  a  human  life  of 
perfect  harmony.  He  is  all  love,  all  heart,  all  feeling ;  and 
yet  again  he  is  all  mind,  all  mental  enlightenment  and 
sublimity.  There  is  no  schism  between  feeling  and  reason 
in  his  nature.  There  is,  moreover,  the  greatest  vitality  of 
feeling  and  emotion,  of  thought  and  reverence  :  and  yet  this 
vitality  of  his  inner  nature  never  passes  into  passionate 
excitement ;  all  is  quiet  dignity,  peaceful  simplicity,  sublime 
harmony. 

In  him  mankind  has  found  its  oneness,  and  the  history  of 
mankind  its  consequent  object.  He  is  he  that  was  to  come. 
All  history  previous  to  his  coming  was  a  prophecy  of  him. 
The  whole  course  of  external  events,  and  the  progress  of  the 
human  mind,  were  tending  towards  him  ;  the  result  of  both 
was  to  demand  without  being  able  to  produce  him  :  hence  in 
him  both  find  their  completion.  The  secret  of  his  power  and 
the  pledge  of  his  success  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  is  the  embodi- 
ment of  the  entire  collective  progress  of  mankind.  He  is  the 
fulfilment  both  of  Israelitish  prophecy  and  Gentile  prediction; 
for  he   is   the   manifestation    of   the   divine    counsel    for  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  1 79 

salvation  of  men.  But  he  is  moreover  the  fulfilment  of  that 
prophecy  which  is  uttered  by  our  own  heart.  He  it  is  who  is 
the  secret  object  of  our  aspirations.  This  is  the  hidden  tie 
which,  unconsciously  to  ourselves,  unites  us  all  to  him,  and 
involuntarily  attracts  us  toward  him.  It  is  he  at  whom  we 
are  aiming,  unknown  to  ourselves.  We  are  all  so  disposed 
towards  him,  that  without  him  our  souls  are  without  rest ; 
because  he  is  the  truth  of  our  being.  Thus  he  is  the  object 
of  us  all.  .  .  . 

There  is  scarcely  any  subject  of  inquiry  which  lays  so  great 
a  claim  to  the  religious  interest  of  the  present  day  as  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ.  Nor  has  any  other  a  right  to  demand 
an  equal  interest ;  for  it  is  a  matter  in  which  Christianity 
itself,  nay,  universal  history,  is  involved.  It  concerns  him  who, 
as  Jean  Paul  Richter  says,  "  being  the  holiest  among  the 
mighty,  the  mightiest  among  the  holy,  lifted  with  his  pierced 
hands  empires  off  their  hinges,  turned  the  stream  of  centuries 
out  of  its  channel,  and  still  governs  the  ages." 


THOMAS   ARNOLD. 

[Sermons  on  Interpretation  of  Scripture.     London :  1845.     P.  225.] 

Many  and  many  are  the  words  of  our  Lord,  the  riches  of 
whose  wisdom  will  far  outlast  the  longest  life  in  its  attempts 
to  come  to  the  end  of  them.  From  the  time  when  our  childish 
attention  was  first  drawn  by  the  mere  beauty  of  the  story  in 
his  parables,  or  the  solemn  and  affectionate  impressiveness 
of  his  promises  and  commands,  down  to  the  latest  hour  in 
which  our  unimpaired  faculties  can  ponder  over  them,  their 
wisdom  and  excellence  seem  continually  to  be  rising  upon 
us.  The  light  which  streams  from  them  appears  to  be  grow- 
ing ever  more  brilliant,  ever  more  searching,  ever  more 
cheering  and  delightful.  Every  year's  experience,  both  of 
our  own  hearts  and  of  the  lives  of  others,  sets  their  manifold 
truth  more   fully  before  us.     In    every  fresh  combination   of 


l8o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

thoughts  and  ideas,  in  every  new  view  which  we  acquire  of  the 
bearing  of  the  world  around  us,  their  universal  range  has 
gone  before  us :  we  find  them  the  Hght  and  the  hfe  of  every 
new  country  which  our  minds  discover,  no  less  than  that  with 
which  we  have  been  so  long  familiar. 


THOMAS    BABINGTON    MACAULAY. 

[Essays.    Civil  Disabilities  of  the  Jews.     New  York  :  1S71.     P.  669.] 

We  protest  altogether  against  the  practice  of  confounding 
prophecy  with  precept ;  of  setting  up  predictions  which  are 
often  obscure,  against  a  morality  which  is  always  clear.  If 
actions  are  to  be  considered  as  just  and  good  merely  because 
they  have  been  predicted,  what  action  was  ever  more  laudable 
than  that  crime  which  our  bigots  are  now,  at  the  end  of  eigh- 
teen centuries,  urging  us  to  avenge  on  the  Jews,  that  crime 
which  made  the  earth  shake,  and  blotted  out  the  sun  from 
heaven  ?  The  same  reasoning  which  is  now  employed  to 
vindicate  the  disabilities  imposed  on  our  Hebrew  country- 
men, will  equally  vindicate  the  kiss  of  Judas  and  the  judgment 
of  Pilate.  "The  Son  of  man  goeth,  as  it  is  written  of  him; 
but  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  the  Son  of  man  is  betrayed  !  " 
and  woe  to  those  who  in  any  age  or  in  any  country  disobey 
his  benevolent  commands  under  pretence  of  accomplishing 
his  predictions.  If  this  argument  justifies  the  laws  now 
existing  against  the  Jews,  it  justifies  equally  all  the  cruelties 
which  have  ever  been  committed  against  them. 

We  have  not  so  learned  the  doctrines  of  him  who  com- 
manded us  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  and  who,  when 
he  was  called  upon  to  explain  what  he  meant  by  a  neighbor, 
selected  as  an  example  a  heretic  and  an  alien.  Last  year 
[1828]  we  remember  it  was  represented  by  a  pious  writer  in 
the  John  Bull  newspaper,  and  by  some  other  equally  fervid 
Christians,  as  a  monstrous  indecency,  that  the  measure  for  the 
relief  of  the  Jews  should  be  brought  forward  in  Passion  Week. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  l8l 

One  of  these  humorists  ironically  recommended  that  it  should 
be  read  a  second  time  on  Good  Friday.  We  should  have  had 
no  objection,  nor  do  we  believe  the  day  could  be  commemo- 
rated in  a  more  worthy  manner.  We  know  of  no  day  fitter  for  - 
terminating  long  hostilities  and  repairing  cruel  wrong,  than  the 
day  on  which  the  religion  of  mercy  was  founded.  We  know 
of  no  day  fitter  for  blotting  out  from  the  statute-book  the  last 
traces  of  intolerance,  than  the  day  on  which  the  spirit  of 
intolerance  produced  the  foulest  of  all  judicial  murders ;  the 
day  on  which  the  list  of  the  victims  of  intolerance,  that  noble 
list  wherein  Socrates  and  More  are  enrolled,  was  glorified  by  a  ' 
yet  greater  and  holier  name. 


JOHN    YOUNG. 

[The  Christ  of  History.    New  York:  1857.     Pp.  221-227,  243-245.I 

The  difficulty  which  we  chiefly  feel  in  dealing  with  the 
character  of  Christ,  as  it  unfolds  itself  before  men,  arises  from 
its  absolute  perfection.  On  this  very  account,  it  is  the  less 
fitted  to  arrest  observation.  A  single  excellence  unusually 
developed,  though  in  the  neighborhood  of  great  faults,  is 
instantly  and  universally  attractive.  Perfect  symmetry,  on  the 
other  hand,  does  not  startle,  and  is  hidden  from  common  and 
casual  observers.  But  it  is  this  which  belongs  emphatically 
to  the  Gospels ;  and  we  distinguish  in  him  at  each  moment 
that  precise  manifestation  which  is  most  natural  and  most 
right.  It  is  wonderful  that  the  unpretending  and  brief  annals 
of  his  life,  by  four  different  hands,  have  not  failed  in  this 
respect ;  have  not  failed  in  any  part  of  the  delineation,  or 
in  a  single  touch  or  tint :  the  more  wonderful  it  is,  since  the 
character  was  utterly  unlike  what  the  writers  could  have 
imagined,  by  the  aid  either  of  experience  or  history. 

In  human  beings  there  is  never  an  approach  to  sustained, 
proportioned,  and  universal  good.  The  manifestation  in  one 
direction  is    so    high    as   to  be   unnatural,   while   in  another 


1 82  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

direction  it  falls  perhaps  below  the  standard  of  our  concep- 
tions. This  wondrous  person  always  is,  and  acts  up  to  the 
idea  of,  perfect  humanity,  —  never  unnaturally  elevated  so  as 
to  be  out  of  fellowship  with  men,  and  never  below  the  highest 
human  excellence  conceivable  in  the  particular  circumstances 
at  the  time.  If  men  possess  a  virtue  in  an  unusual  degree, 
the  probability  is  that  they  will  be  found  to  exhibit  a  defect 
or  fault  in  the  opposite  direction.  The  virtue  itself  shall  pass 
into  a  fault,  and  shall  occasion  the  injury  or  the  neglect  of 
other  qualities  equally  essential.  A  man  is  remarkable  for 
sagacity  and  decision,  but  he  shall  be  coldly  unsusceptible  ; 
or  he  is  tender  and  ardent,  but  he  shall  be  wanting  in  reso- 
lution and  in  judgment.  He  is  remarkable  for  dignity  of 
deportment,  but  he  shall  be  reserved  and  proud  ;  or  he  is 
communicative  and  accessible,  but  he  shall  be  wanting  in 
becoming  self-respect. 

The  high  development  of  the  intellect  is  rarely  combined 
with  the  due  cultivation  of  the  affections,  and  the  cultivation 
of  the  affections  is  rarely  combined  with  full  development  and 
force  of  intellect.  Jesus  Christ  possessed  the  tenderest  heart, 
overflowing  with  generous  and  warm  feelings;  but  at  the  same 
time  his  wisdom  was  profound,  and  his  decision  of  character 
was  invincible.  He  was  accessible  to  all  without  exception, 
and  no  circle  of  exclusiveness  was  at  any  time  drawn  around 
him  in  order  to  guard  his  presence  ;  but  he  was  always  self- 
possessed,  and  self-sustained,  and  his  dignity  was  command- 
ing. Intellectually  and  morally,  socially  and  personally,  in 
relation  to  his  kindred  or  his  disciples,  to  the  followers  or  the 
enemies  of  his  ministry,  he  always  rises  up  to  the  highest  idea 
that  can  be  formed  of  perfect  man.  And  then  there  is  thrown 
over  all  his  intercourse  with  men,  the  charni  of  freshness  and 
of  genuine  simplicity.  Nothing  is  artificial,  nothing  assumed, 
nothing  forced  ;  but  we  behold  the  natural,  honest,  free  devel- 
opment of  a  true  soul.  He  is  never  trying  to  impress,  never 
laboring  to  sustain  a  character.  He  is  not  aiming  to  seem, 
but  he  seems  what  he  really  is,  —  no  more,  no  less,  no  other. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 83 

Nor  does  this  being  come  before  us  only  on  a  few  special 
occasions  carefully  selected  in  order  to  exhibit  conspicuously 
the  best  aspects  of  his  character.  We  behold  him  mingling 
with  all  sorts  of  persons,  and  with  all  kinds  of  events ;  we 
follow  the  steps  of  his  public  life,  and  we  watch  his  most 
unsuspecting  and  retired  moments ;  we  see  him  in  the  midst 
of  thousands,  or  with  his  disciples,  or  with  a  single  individjaal : 
we  see  him  in  the  capital  of  his  country,  or  in  one  of  its 
remote  villages,  in  the  temple  and  the  synagogue,  or  in  the 
desert,  or  in  the  streets.  We  see  him  with  the  rich  and  the 
poor,  the  prosperous  and  the  afflicted,  the  good  and  the  bad, 
with  his  private  friends  and  with  enemies  and  murderers ;  and 
we  behold  him  at  last  in  circumstances  the  most  overwhelming 
which  it  is  possible  to  conceive,  deserted,  betrayed,  falsely 
accused,  unrighteously  condemned,  nailed  to  a  cross !  But 
wherever  he  is,  and  however  placed,  in  the  ordinary  circum- 
stances of  his  daily  life,  or  at  the  last  supper,  or  in  Geth- 
semane,  or  in  the  judgment  hall,  or  on  Calvary,  he  is  the  same 
meek,  pure,  wise,  God-like  being.  .  .  . 

The  character  of  Jesus,  besides,  was  a  pure  original,  not 
an  imitation.  The  model  existed  not,  and  had  never  existed, 
from  which  it  could  have  been  copied.  There  is  no  record  in 
the  writings  of  all  nations,  and  of  all  times,  of  a  life  for  which 
absolute  perfection  is  claimed  from  its  beginning  to  its  close. 
But  the  character  of  Christ  drawn  in  the  Gospels,  though 
undesignedly  on  the  part  of  the  writers,  is  human  perfection, 
in  which  we  can  discover  no  defect,  and  which  we  can  imagine 
nothing  beyond. 

The  suspicion  is  very  groundless,  that  that  manifestation 
which  is  delineated  with  great  artlessness  in  the  Gospels  was 
not  real,  but  ideal,  —  a  creation  of  the  writers'  own  minds,  not 
a  simple  account  of  what  they  had  actually  witnessed.  We 
need  only  refer  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  condition  of  Judaea, 
with  its  known  principles,  habits,  and  tastes  ;  to  the  position 
and  character  of  the  Evangelists,  and  then  to  the  representa- 
tion   itself  which    they  have    executed,  —  in    order  to    show 


1 84  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

convincingly  that  such  a  suspicion  is  the  most  groundless 
which  can  be  imagined.  That  country  and  these  men  could 
never  have  conceived  or  described  such  ideal  spiritual 
excellence,  as  that  which  they  attached  as  a  reality  to  the 
person  of  Jesus  ;  least  of  all  was  it  possible,  that  this  idea 
could  have  been  connected  with  the  name  and  the  office  of 
the  promised  Messiah.  This  was  not  their  idea  at  all, 
especially  in  this  connection.  In  several  most  important 
respects,  it  was  exactly  the  opposite  of  their  idea ;  and  by  no 
possibility  could  it  have  originated  merely  in  their  minds. 
Such  a  character  as  that  of  Jesus,  they  were  not  the  persons 
ever  to  have  imagined  ;  and  that  it  has  been  delineated  by 
them,  is  the  unassailable  proof  that  it  was  actually  seen. 

Never  passed  before  the  imagination  of  man,  and  never 
but  once  alighted  on  this  earth,  so  heavenly  a  vision.  Once, 
in  all  human  history,  we  meet  a  being  who  never  did  an  injury, 
and  never  resented  one  done  to  him,  never  uttered  an  untruth, 
never  practised  a  deception,  and  never  lost  an  opportunity  of 
doing  good  ;  generous  in  the  midst  of  the  selfish,  upright  in 
the  midst  of  the  dishonest,  pure  in  the  midst  of  the  sensual, 
and  wise  far  above  the  wisest  of  earth's  sages  and  prophets ; 
loving  and  gentle,  yet  immovably  resolute,  and  whose  illim- 
itable meekness  and  patience  never  once  forsook  him  in  a 
vexatious,  ungrateful,  and  cruel  world. 

If  the  New  Testament  had  contained  only  the  character 
of  Jesus,  as  it  unfolded  itself  in  his  intercourse  with  men.  it 
had  deserved  a  place  above  all  human  productions  ;  it  had 
been  a  mine  of  spiritual  wealth,  and  a  fountain  of  holy  inllu- 
ence  unknown  to  every  other  region,  and  to  all  the  ages  of 
time.  .  .  . 

The  si)iritual  individuality  of  Christ  is  as  striking  as  it  is 
manifest.  Whether  we  look  to  his  oneness  with  God,  to  the 
marvellous  forms  of  his  consciousness,  to  the  totality  of  his 
manifestations,  to  the  motive  of  his  life,  or  to  his  unconquer- 
able faith,  his  character,  take  it  all  in  all,  must  be  confessed 
to  stand  alone  in  the  history  of  the  world.     But  this  character, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  185 

in  its  unapproachable  grandeur,  must  be  viewed  in  connection 
with  the  outward  circumstances  of  the  being  in  whom  it  was 
reaHzed ;  in  connection  with  hfe  not  only  privileged,  but 
offering  numerous  positive  hinderances  to  the  origination,  the 
growth,  and  most  of  all,  the  perfection,  of  spiritual  excellence. 
In  a  Jew  of  Nazareth,  a  young  man,  an  uneducated  me- 
chanic, moral  perfection  was  realized.  Can  this  phenomenon 
be  accounted  for?  There  is  here,  without  doubt,  a  manifesta- 
tion of  humanity;  but  the  question  is,  Was  this  a  manifestation 
of  humanity,  and  no  more  ?  If  Jesus  was  no  more  than  man, 
why  have  there  not  been  other  men  like  him  ?  Why  has  there 
not  been  one  man  like  to  him  in  the  whole  course  of  time  ? 
The  question  is  unanswerable,  we  humbly  maintain.  If,  by  the 
special  protection  and  influence  of  God,  Jesus  in  his  peculiar 
circumstances,  with  his  youth,  his  want  of  education,  his 
poverty  and  all  its  hinderances  and  exposures,  reached  moral 
perfection,  it  is  unaccountable,  that,  in  far  happier  combina- 
tions of  circumstances,  such  an  attainment  has  never  been 
approached.  What  God  did  for  one  man,  God  certainly  could 
have  done  for  other  men.  It  is  unaccountable  that  it  has 
never  been  done,  and  that  not  a  single  individual  known  to 
history  has  risen  to  the  glory  of  this  youthful,  untaught, 
unprivileged  Galilsean  mechanic. 


DANIEL   WEBSTER. 

[Works.    Argument  in  the  Girard  Will  Case.    Boston:  1869.    Vol.  vi.  pp.  153, 154.] 

When  little  children  were  brought  into  the  presence  of 
the  Son  of  God,  his  disciples  proposed  to  send  them  away ; 
but  he  said,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me."  Unto 
me.  He  did  not  send  first  for  lessons  in  morals  to  the  schools 
of  the  Pharisees,  or  to  the  unbelieving  Sadducees,  nor  to  read 
the  precepts  and  lessons  phyladeried  on  the  garments  of  the 
Jewish  priesthood ;  he  said  nothing  of  different  creeds  or 
dashing   doctrines :    but  he  opened  at  once  to  the  youthful 


1 86  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

mind  the  everlasting  fountain  of  living  waters,  the  only  source 
of  eternal  truths.  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  tmto  me'' 
and  that  injunction  is  of  perpetual  obligation.  It  addresses 
itself  to-day  with  the  same  earnestness  and  the  same  authority 
which  attended  its  first  utterance  to  the  Christian  world.  It 
is  of  force  everywhere,  and  at  all  times.  It  extends  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth  ;  it  will  reach  to  the  end  of  time,  alwa)'s 
and  everywhere  sounding  in  the  ears  of  men  with  an  emphasis 
which  no  repetition  can  weaken,  and  with  an  authority  which 
nothing  can  supersede :  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto 
me. 


JOHN    HAMILTON   THOM. 

[The  Revelation  of  God  and  Man  in  the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of  Man. 
London  :   1859.     P.  1 14,  et  seq.'\ 

Men  never  could  conceive  the  harmony  of  the  Divine 
character,  until  in  Christ  they  saw  the  image  of  it  in  human 
nature.  No  man  ever  conceived  the  harmony  of  the  Divine 
attributes  as  they  exist  in  one  God,  until  the  world  saw  that 
harmony  reflected  in  Christ.  And  this  was  inevitable,  for  our 
own  nature  is  the  only  basis  we  possess  whence  to  rise  to  the 
conception  of  any  higher  nature ;  and  so  long  as  human 
nature  and  character  were  hopelessly  disordered  and  confused, 
attribute  conflicting  with  attribute,  it  was  utterly  impossible 
that  we  should  be  able  to  introduce  harmony  into  the  Divine 
attributes,  or  to  think  of  God  after  a  conception  we  did  not 
possess. 

Our  Lord  knew  no  such  spiritual  difficulty.  He  knew 
himself  to  be  the  complete  image  of  the  P'ather.  In  him  were 
reconciled  all  those  spiritual  attributes  which  belong  to  the 
Father.  This  is,  tlien,  the  specific  gift  that  Christ  conferred 
on  mankind,  —  a  human  soul  in  wliich  all  spiritual  attributes 
are  so  contained  and  reconciled,  that  it  is  worthy  to  be  a  type 
of  the  Infinite  Perfection.  We  coukl  not  moukl  ourselves 
after  a  perfection  that  we  have  not  conceived  ;  and  who,  even 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  187 

now,  long  as  Christ  has  been  with  us,  —  who,  looking  upon 
the  disorders  of  his  own  heart,  and  the  disorders  of  the  world, 
and  the  mixed  aspects  of  nature,  and  the  difficulties,  the 
seeming  contradictions,  of  Providence  itself,  —  will  be  bold 
enough  to  say  that  man  could  for  himself  have  found  the  law 
of  harmony  in  these  conflicting  elements,  and  risen  to  the 
conception  of  the  one  perfect  God,  who  is  in  them,  and 
presides  over  them,  and  of  the  one  image  of  himself  that  he 
is  ever  seeking  to  develop  in  us  his  children  ? 


GEORGE    HILL. 

[Lectures  in  Divinity.     Edinburgh:  1850.     Pp.  18,  19.] 

The  character  of  Jesus  as  a  man  is  allowed  to  be  the  most 
perfect  which  the  world  ever  saw.  All  the  virtues  of  which 
we  can  form  a  conception  were  united  in  him  with  a  more  ex- 
act harmony,  and  shone  with  a  lustre  more  bright  and  more 
natural,  than  in  any  of  the  sons  of  men.  The  majesty  of  his 
divine  nature  is  blended  with  the  fellow-feeling  and  condescen- 
sion implied  in  his  office  ;  and  although  the  history  of  mankind 
did  not  afford  any  model  that  could  here  be  followed,  this 
singular  character  is  supported  throughout,  and  there  is  not 
any  one  of  the  words  or  actions  ascribed  to  him  which  does 
not  appear  to  the  most  correct  taste  to  become  the  man  Christ 
Jesus. 

It  is  not  possible  that  a  manner  of  teaching  so  infinitely 
superior  to  that  of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  or  that  of  a 
character  so  extraordinary,  so  Godlike,  so  consistent,  could 
have  been  invented  by  the  fishermen  of  Galilee.  Admit  only 
that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  are  authentic,  and  you 
must  allow  that  the  authors  of  them  draw  Jesus  Christ  from 
the  life.  And  how  do  they  draw  him  ?  Not  in  the  language 
of  fiction,  with  swollen  panegyric,  with  a  laborious  eftort  to 
number  his  deeds  and  to  record  all  his  sayings,  but  in  the 
most  natural,  artless  manner.     Four  of  his  disciples,  not  many 


1 88  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

years  after  his  death,  when  every  circumstance  could  be  easily 
investigated,  wrote  a  short  history  of  his  life.  Without 
attempting  to  exhaust  the  subject,  without  studying  to  coincide 
with  one  another,  without  directing  your  attention  to  the 
shining  parts  of  his  history,  or  making  any  contrast  between 
him  and  other  men,  they  leave  you  from  a  few  facts  to  gather 
the  character  of  the  man  whom  they  had  followed. 

The  character  of  Jesus  is  drawn,  not  by  the  coloring  of  a 
skilful  pencil,  but  by  a  continual  reference  to  facts  which  to 
impostors  are  of  difficult  invention  and  of  easy  detection,  but, 
to  those  who  exhibit  a  real  character,  are  the  most  natural,  the 
most  delightful,  and  the  most  effectual  method  of  making  their 
friend  known. 


KESHUB    CHUNDER   SEN. 

[Jesus  Christ;  Europe  and  Asia.    Calcutta:  1S69.] 

I  CHERISH  the  profoundest  reverence  for  the  character  of 
Jesus,  and  for  the  lofty  ideal  of  moral  truth  which  he  taught 
and  lived.  And  it  is  to  impress  his  moral  excellence  on  my 
countrymen,  as  well  as  the  European  community  in  India, 
unbiassed  by  the  spirit  of  sectarian  bigotry  or  the  spirit  of 
theological  wrangling,  that  I  appear  before  you  this  evening. 

The  world  was  enveloped  in  almost  impenetrable  darkness 
when  Jesus  was  born.  Grim  idolatry  stalked  over  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  then  known  world,  and  prejudices  and 
corruptions  of  a  most  revolting  type  followed  in  its  train. 

A  light  was  needed.  Humanity  was  groaning  under  a 
deadly  malady,  and  was  on  the  verge  of  death  ;  a  remedy  was 
urgently  needed  to  save  it.  Jesus  Christ  was  thus  a  necessity 
of  the  age.     He  appeared  in  the  fulness  of  time. 

Tiiere  can  be  no  question  that  Jesus  was  commissioned 
and  destined  by  Providence  for  the  great  work  which  he  came 
to  perform. 

The  vast  moral  influence  of  his  life  and  death  still  lives  in 
human  society,  and  animates  its  movements.     It  has  moulded 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  1 89 

the  civilization  of  modern  Europe,  and  it  underlies  the  many 
civilizing  and  philanthropic  agencies  of  the  present  day.  .  .  . 

The  stream  of  Christianity,  which  first  flowed  westward, 
has  wheeled  round  towards  the  east,  and  diffused  the  bless- 
ings of  enliehtenment  from  China  to  Peru,  —  east,  west,  north, 
and  south.  On  all  sides  we  behold  the  glory  of  Christ.  His 
Church  has  been  planted  in  Greenland,  British  Guiana,  the 
West  Indies,  West  Africa,  East  Africa,  Cape  Town,  Madagas- 
car, Turkey,  Arabia,  Persia,  India,  Tartary,  Japan,  China,  the 
Indian  Archipelago,  Australia,  Polynesia,  and  New  Zealand. 

Such  has  been  the  gradual  progress  of  Christianity,  such 
the  wondrous  growth  of  the  seed  planted  by  Jesus.  Tell 
me,  brethren,  whether  you  regard  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the 
carpenter's  son,  as  an  ordinary  man  ?  Is  there  a  single  soul  in 
this  large  assembly  who  would  scruple  to  ascribe  extraordinary 
greatness  and  supernatural  moral  heroism  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  him  crucified  ?  Was  not  he  one  who  by  his  wisdom 
illumined,  and  by  his  power  saved,  a  dark  and  wicked  world  ? 
Was  not  he  who  left  us  such  a  priceless  legacy  of  divine 
truth,  and  whose  blood  has  wrought  such  wonders  for 
eighteen  hundred  years,  was  not  he  above  ordinary  humanity? 
Blessed  Jesus,  immortal  child  of  God !  For  the  world  he 
lived,  he  lived  and  died.  May  the  world  appreciate  him,  and 
follow  his  precepts ! 

Christianity  was  founded  and  developed  by  Asiatics,  and 
in  Asia.  When  I  reflect  on  this,  my  love  for  Jesus  becomes 
a  hundred-fold  intensified.  I  feel  him  nearer  my  heart,  and 
deeper  in  my  national  sympathies.  Shall  I  not  say  he  Is  more 
congenial  and  akin  to  my  Oriental  habits  of  thought  and 
feeling?  Is  it  not  true  that  an  Asiatic  can  read  the  imageries 
and  allegories  of  the  Gospel,  and  its  descriptions  of  natural 
scenery,  of  customs  and  manners,  with  greater  interest,  and 
a  fuller  perception  of  their  force  and  beauty,  than  Europeans  ? 

In  Christ  we  see  not  only  the  exaltedness  of  humanity,  '^ 
but  also  the  grandeur  of  which  Asiatic  nature  is  susceptible. 
To  us  Asiatics,  therefore,  Christ  is  doubly  interesting,   and 


I  go  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

his  religion  is  entitled  to  our  peculiar  regard  as  an  altogether 
Oriental  affair.  The  more  this  great  fact  is  pondered,  the 
less,  I  hope,  will  be  the  antipathy  and  hatred  of  European 
Christians  against  Oriental  nationalities,  and  the  greater  the 
interest  of  Asiatics  in  the  teachings  of  Christ.  And  thus  in 
Christ,  Europe  and  Asia,  the  East  and  West,  may  learn  to  find 
harmony  and  unity. 

Christ  spake  not,  as  worldly  men  speak,  in  the  accommo- 
dating spirit  of  prudence  ;  he  preaches  absolute  religion.  He 
disdained  every  thing  local  and  contingent,  sectarian  and 
partial,  and  taught  God's  universal  truth  for  the  benefit  of  all 
mankind,  —  Europeans  and  Asiatics  alike. 

Let  it  not  be  supposed  that  I  allude  to  any  special  form  of 
Christian  ethics,  as  it  is  understood  and  accepted  by  particular 
denominations  of  the  Christian  Church.  No.  I  have  not 
derived  my  conceptions  of  Christ,  or  his  ethics,  from  the 
dogmatic  theology,  or  the  actual  life,  of  any  class  of  his  follow- 
ers. I  do  not  identify  him  with  any  Christian  sect.  I  have 
gone  directly  to  the  Bible  to  ascertain  the  genuine  doctrine 
of  morality  inculcated  by  Christ ;  and  it  is  my  firm  conviction 
that  his  teachings  find  a  response  in  the  universal  conscious- 
ness of  humanity,  and  are  no  more  European  than  Asiatic ; 
and  that  in  his  ethics  "  there  is  neither  Greek  nor  Jew, 
circumcision  nor  uncircumcision,  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor 
free."  May  we  all  learn  to  draw  near  to  God  by  conforming 
to  the  spirit  of  these  precepts ! 

The  two  fundamental  doctrines  of  Gospel  ethics,  which 
stand  out  prominently  above  all  others,  and  give  it  its  peculiar 
grantlcur  antl  its  pre-eminent  excellence,  are,  in  nn-  o})inion, 
the  doctrines  of  forgiveness  and  self-sacrifice  ;  and  it  is  in  these 
we  perceive  the  moral  greatness  of  Christ.  These  golden 
maxims,  how  beautifully  he  preached  !  How  nobly  he  lived  ! 
What  moral  serenity  and  sweetness  pervaded  his  life !  What 
extraordinary  tenderness  and  humility,  what  lamblike  meek- 
ness and  simplicity!  His  heart  was  full  of  mercy  and  forgiving 
kindness  :   friends  and  foes  shared  his  charity  and  love.     And 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  191 

yet,  on  the  other  hand,  how  resolute,  firm,  and  unyielding  in 
his  adherence  to  truth !  He  feared  no  mortal  man,  and 
braved  even  death  itself  for  the  sake  of  God  and  truth. 

Verily,  when  we  read  his  life,  his  meekness,  like  the  soft 
moon,  ravishes  the  heart,  and  bathes  it  in  a  flood  of  serene 
light ;  but  when  we  come  to  the  grand  consummation  of  his 
career,  his  death  on  the  cross,  behold,  he  shines  as  the 
powerful  sun  in  its  meridian  splendor. 


EDWARD    EVERETT. 

[Orations  and  Speeches.    Boston:    1876.    Vol.  iii.  pp.  585-587.] 

On  Christmas  Day,  beginning  at  Jerusalem  in  the  Church 
of  the  Sepulchre  of  our  Lord,  the  Christmas  anthem  will 
travel  with  the  star  that  stood  above  the  cradle,  from  region 
to  region,  from  communion  to  communion,  and  from  tongue  to 
tongue,  till  It  has  compassed  the  land  and  the  sea,  and  returned 
to  melt  away  upon  the  sides  of  Mount  Zion. 

By  the  feeble  remnants  of  the  Syrian  and  Armenian 
churches,  creeping  to  their  furtive  matins  amidst  the  unbe- 
lieving hosts  of  Islam,  in  the  mountains  of  Kurdistan  and 
Erzeroum  ;  within  the  venerable  cloisters  which  have  braved 
the  storms  of  war  and  barbarism  for  fifteen  centuries  on  the 
reverend  peaks  of  Mount  Sinai ;  in  the  gorgeous  cathedrals 
of  Moscow  and  Vienna,  of  Madrid  and  Paris,  and  still  impe- 
rial Rome ;  at  the  simpler  altars  of  the  Protestant  Church  in 
Western  Europe  and  America ;  in  the  remote  missions  of  our 
own  continent,  of  the  Pacific  Islands,  and  of  the  farthest  East, 
—  on  Friday  next,  for  the  Catholic  and  Protestant  churches, 
the  sono-  of  the  ana-els,  which  heralded  the  birth  of  our  Lord, 
will  be  repeated  by  the  myriads  of  his  followers  all  around 
the  globe. 

Let  its  choral  strains  remind  us,  that,  as  far  as  the  rela- 
tions of  man  to  man  are  concerned,  charity  is  the  central  and 
characteristic  duty  of  our  religion. 


192  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

The  splendid  polytheisms  of  antiquity  made  little  or  no 
provision  for  the  organized  relief  of  the  poor.  As  far  as  one 
can  eather  from  the  remains  of  Grecian  and  Roman  literatures, 
such  a  thing  as  an  almshouse,  a  refuge  for  the  poor  of  either 
sex,  an  institution  for  the  instruction  of  the  blind,  the  deaf- 
mute,  the  idiot,  an  infirmary  of  any  description,  a  retreat  for 
the  insane,  a  foundling  hospital,  was  unknown  to  the  world 
before  the  birth  of  our  Saviour. 

There  were  vestals  to  guard  the  sacred  fire  in  the  temples, 
but  no  sisters  of  charity  to  prevent  the  vital  spark  from  being 
extinguished  in  the  bosom  of  suffering  humanity. 


ROBERT   C.   WINTHROP. 

[Addresses  and  Speeches.    Boston:  1867.    Vol.  ii.  pp.  436-438.] 

It  is  not  enough  for  any  of  us  merely  to  profess  and  call 
ourselves  Christians.  Almost  the  whole  civilized  world,  in- 
deed, has  long  assumed  to  itself  the  title  of  the  Christian 
world  ;  and  it  rejoices  in  the  recognition  of  the  Christian  era 
as  the  period  from  which  all  human  acts  or  ordinances  are 
dated.  We  set  down,  each  one  of  us,  at  the  top  of  every 
letter  of  business  or  note  of  friendship,  the  year  of  our  Lord, 
as  if  there  were  no  time  worthy  to  be  counted  in  our  calendar 
(as,  in  very  truth,  there  is  not)  until  Christ  appeared  upon 
the  earth  to  bring  life  and  immortality  to  light;  as  if  time  were 
nothing,  as,  in  truth,  it  is  nothing,  except  when  regarded  as 
the  vestibule  of  an  assured  eternity,  —  the  first  infant  step  of 
a  never-ending  and  immortal  career.  But  how  much  of  this 
is  formal,  fashionable,  or  a  matter  of  reckoning?  How  few 
of  us,  as  we  date  our  notes  or  letters,  consider  or  care,  or 
even  remember,  from  what  event  so  many  hundred  years 
have  passed  away  without  detracting  one  jot  or  tittle  from  its 
infinite  and  unutterable  importance!  Christmas  comes  and 
goes,  and  comes  again,  with  the  revolutions  of  the  seasons. 
The  usual  amount  of  feasting  and  dancing,  of  family  gather- 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  193 

ings  and  friendly  present- makings,  is  sure  to  be  witnessed. 
The  churches  are  decorated,  the  windows  are  festooned,  the 
evergreen  tree  is  Hghted  with  candles  and  loaded  with  sou- 
venirs ;  and  a  "  Merry  Christmas  "  is  the  unfailing  ejaculation 
of  every  man  to  his  neighbor.  But  amidst  all  this  anniversary 
gayety  and  conventional  gladness,  how  many  of  us  think 
seriously  of  the  momentous  character  of  the  occasion  we 
celebrate  ?  How  many  pause  from  their  merry  sports  to  ask 
themselves  the  question,  "  Has  Christ  been  really  born  to  us?" 
Have  we  ever  been  with  the  wise  men  to  worship  at  his  cradle, 
or  with  the  loving-  women  to  bend  before  his  cross  ?  We  have 
used  his  birthday  as  an  occasion  for  bringing  gifts  to  others : 
have  we  employed  it  in  bringing  gifts  to  him,  even  the  homage 
of  a  grateful  heart  ?  .   .   . 

The  Christian  spirit,  breathing  through  the  individual  soul ; 
the  Christian  motive,  informing  and  actuating  the  personal 
life  ;  the  Christian  principle,  guiding,  governing,  controlling 
the  thought,  word,  act,  of  every  day  and  hour,  —  these  are 
what  constitute  the  real  recognition  and  adoption  of  the  name 
of  Christ.  The  Christian  life,  as  nobly  set  forth  by  Thomas 
Arnold  of  Rugby,  as  beautifully  delineated  by  Peter  Bayne  of 
Edinburgh,  as  humbly  but  heroically  exemplified  by  Howard 
and  Heber  and  Chalmers  and  Wilberforce  and  Samuel  Budgett 
and  John  Foster  and  Lady  Huntingdon  and  Elizabeth  Fry, 
as  admirably  commended  before  the  Queen  of  England  by 
John  Caird  of  Errol,  as  exquisitely  analyzed  by  Wesley  in 
the  successive  stanzas  of  that  almost  matchless  hymn,  "Jesus, 
my  strength,  my  hope,"  as  perfectly  personified  by  Jesus  him- 
self and  by  him  alone  in  his  work  upon  earth,  —  this  Christian 
life,  this  life  of  Christ,  and  no  empty  acknowledgment  of  a 
date  or  a  name  or  an  event,  this  it  is,  which,  cultivated  ear- 
nestly and  successfully,  will,  in  the  good  time  of  him  with 
whom  a  thousand  years  are  as  one  day,  reform  the  abuses  ot 
the  world,  so  far  as  they  are  ever  destined  to  be  reformed 
here,  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  coming  of  those  new  heavens 
and  that  new  earth  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness. 


194  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


FRANCIS   VOLKMAR    REINHARD. 

[Plan  of  the  Founder  of  Christianity.     New  York:  1831.     Pp.  232,  23S,  241,  271. J 

No  benefactor  of  mankind,  before  Jesus,  had  ever  observed 
how  htde  could  be  accomphshed  by  singly  attacking  the  bad 
habits  that  prevailed,  without  striking  at  the  root  from  which 
they  spring.  Hence  he  who,  as  legislator  or  ruler,  had  to  do 
with  whole  nations,  satisfied  himself  with  being  able  to  produce 
and  maintain  external  order  among  them  ;  and  he  who  as  a 
rnoralist  and  philosopher  attempted  to  accomplish  more,  and 
endeavored  to  effect  an  internal  reformation  also,  limited  his 
efforts  and  confined  himself  to  the  education  of  a  few  select 
disciples.  Jesus  possessed  deeper,  wider,  and  more  correct 
views,  than  all  the  reformers  that  preceded  him.  He  alone 
penetrated  into  the  most  secret  wants  of  mankind,  and  knew 
what  was  peculiarly  needful  for  them. 

He  alone  commenced  his  reformation  where  it  must  be 
commenced  in  order  entirely  to  change  the  manner  of  thinking, 
willing,  and  perceiving,  to  which  men  have  been  accustomed. 
He  alone  extended  his  views  over  the  whole  human  family, 
and  included  all  nations  in  his  plan.  He  alone,  with  a 
superiority  of  mind  to  which  every  thing  that  had  previously 
been  attempted  for  the  welfare  of  the  human  race  was  far  too 
small  and  defective,  soared  to  an  idea  which  contained  the 
excellences  of  all  the  plans  which  had  ever  been  invented 
for  the  improvement  of  man.  —  to  the  idea  of  forming  a  new 
moral  creation. 

It  has  been  peculiar  to  the  founders  of  religions  almost 
universally,  to  fall  into  the  mistake  of  forming  regulations, 
instituting  ceremonies,  and  laying  down  positive  precepts, 
which  will  not  admit  of  being  observed  everywhere.  In  this 
way  they  have  proved  beyond  question,  that  they  were  con- 
fined to  limited  spheres,  and  had  but  little  acquaintance  with 
the  circumstances  of  different  nations  and  the  character  ot" 
their  respective  countries.      In  this  respect,  also,  Jesus  con- 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  195 

ducted  with  a  wisdom  that  took  a  survey  of  every  thing.  His 
reHgion  contains  absolutely  nothing  which  cannot  be  prac- 
tised everywhere. 

But  that  he  was  also  the  greatest  of  men  in  respect  to 
benevolence,  and  goodness  of  heart,  is  beyond  all  doubt. 
Such  a  benevolence  as  that  which  he  exhibited  is  nowhere  to 
be  met  with  in  history.  The  most  exalted  spirits  of  antiquity 
were  deficient  in  nothing  so  much^as  the  benevolen,t  extension 
of  thought.  We  have  already  been  compelled  to  remark,  that 
the  whole  of  antiquity  was  disfigured  with  a  certain  want 
of  humanity.  Here  we  find  the  opposite.  The  Founder  of 
Christianity  in  the  formation  of  his  plan  unveiled  a  goodness 
of  heart,  a  philanthropic  benevolence,  of  boundless  extent,  and 
absolutely  new  in  its  kind.  No  human  mind,  before  or  since, 
has  ap'proximated  so  near  to  Deity,  or  soared  so  near  to  his 
high  and  perfect  pattern  of  holy  goodness,  and  all-comprehen- 
sive love, 'as  Jesus  did.  His  love,  like  that  of  the  great  Creator 
which  flows  forth  in  constant  and  boundless  streams  of  kind- 
ness to  every  being,  flowed  forth  to  all  mankind,  and  aimed 
to  make  them  all  happy  without  exception. 

And  finally  the  life  of  Jesus  !  It  may  be  described  in  a 
few  words  :  He  went  about  doino-  orood.  He  denied  himself 
every  convenience  and  comfort,  when  by  so  doing  he  could 
accomplish  any  good  in  respect  to  a  single  soul,  or  alleviate  any 
sufferer  of  his  pain.  In  his  intercourse  with  the  world,  he  was 
neither  dark,  morose,  nor  reserved.  He  caused  none  to  feel 
his  superiority  and  greatness,  in  a  manner  calculated  to  humble 
or  depress.  Full  of  open-hearted  friendship,  he  shared  in  fes- 
tive joys  and  innocent  pleasures ;  and  the  severity  of  his  serious- 
ness was  softened  by  a  love  of  the  mildest  character,  which 
filled  every  uncorrupted  heart  with  reverence  and  confidence. 

According  to  the  testimony  of  history,  all  reformers  have 
been  distinguished  in  their  morals  and  conduct,  by  a  certain 
inflexibility  and  hardness,  a  certain  wild  severity  and  stormy 
vehemence  ;  and  it  is  easy  to  bring  reasons  to  show  why  those 
who,  under  the  influence  of  a  kind  of  superiority,  undertake 


196  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

to  renovate  the  ages  in  which  they  hved,  and  produce  an  entire 
change,  must  have  possessed  this  irresistible  firmness,  this 
decisive  and  authoritative  energy. 

Even  here,  however,  Jesus  constitutes  a  remarkable  excep- 
tion. He,  the  greatest  of  all  reformers,  was  a  man  of  the 
most  gentle  manners,  and  the  mildest  habit ;  and  not  a  trace 
of  turbulent  zeal,  blustering  impetuosity,  and  unfeeling  sever- 
ity, is  to  be  discovered  either  in  his  disposition  or  his  actions. 
In  this  respect  also  he  is  unique  and  unexampled. 

How  was  it  possible  for  a  man  who  embraced  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  in  the  greatest  love,  to  derive  his  origin 
from  a  nation  which  despised  all  other  nations,  made  hatred 
to  them  a  religious  duty,  and  considered  it  criminal  to  ap- 
proach them  or  form  connections  with  them  ?  Here  every 
thing  is  new  and  incomprehensible  ;  every  thing  govei'ned  by 
strange  laws.  External  circumstances  and  relations  are  con- 
stantly at  variance  with  the  disposition  and  feelings  of  Jesus, 
and  produce  in  him  the  effects  directly  the  opposite  to  what 
they  usually  do  in  other  cases.  Under  such  circumstances,  no 
human  mind  has  developed  such  qualities. 

If  God  was  not  with  this  man,  it  is  not  easy  to  see  how  he 
became  what  he  was  ;  how  he  could  possibly  have  acquired 
that  heavenly  dignity,  greatness,  and  elevation,  with  which  he 
stands  forth  unequalled  and  alone  in  the  vast  spaces  of  history. 
far  surpassing  in  splendor  all  that  is  worthy  of  admiration  upon 
the  earth. 


SAMUEL    J.    ANDREWS. 

[The  Like  ok  Our  Lord  ui-on  the  Earth.     New  York:  1865.     Pp.  10,11.] 

Wk  cannot  too  steadily  keep  in  mind,  that  Christianity  is 
Christ.  Jesus  did  not  merely  originate  a  spiritual  movement. 
He  is  himself  the  living,  abiding  power  of  the  movement. 
We  look  back  to  no  sepulchre  :  we  look  up  to  the  Living  One 
in  the  heavens,  Jesus  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  the  same 
yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.      Christianity  lives  because  he 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  197 

lives.  Let,  then,  the  issue  between  the  sceptic  and  the  behever 
be  kept  clearly  before  us.  If  Jesus  Christ  is  now  at  God's 
right  hand,  Head  over  all  things  unto  the  Church,  Christianity 
lives  in  him,  and  must  live  so  long  as  he  lives.  It  is,  because 
he  is.  If,  as  Strauss  and  Renan  say,  he  has  no  longer  any 
personal  existence  ;  if  he  lives  only  in  history,  and  as  an  idea, 
—  then  Christianity,  like  other  systems,  will  yield  to  time,  will 
suffer  the  transmutations  of  all  things  earthly.  A  new  teacher 
will  arise,  and  men  will  follow  him. 


NEHEMIAH    ADAMS. 

[Christ  a  Friend.     Boston  :   1855.     Pp.  13,  14,  19,  20.] 

There  never  was  such  a  heart  as  we  find  in  Jesus  Christ. 
No  father,  mother,  husband,  wife,  sister,  child,  or  lover  can 
compare  with  him  in  his  disposition  and  power  to  love.  It 
was  the  great  love  wherewith  he  loved  us,  that  made  him  a 
Saviour;  so  that  the  Apostle  speaks  of  it  as  "a  breadth,  and 
length,  and  depth,  and  height,"  adding,  "  and  to  know  the 
love  of  Christ,  which  passeth  knowledge." 

This  love  is  not  a  passionate,  impulsive  feeling ;  nor  is  it, 
like  human  love,  influenced  by  fancy ;  nor  is  it  variable. 
There  are  no  private  ends  to  be  gained  by  it.  He  loves 
because  it  is  his  nature  to  love.  Nor  is  it  fastidious.  Infirm- 
ities and  disagreeable  peculiarities  which  repel  others,  no  more 
alienate  the  Saviour  from  us,  if  we  are  sincerely  pious,  than 
the  wounds  or  deformities,  the  sightless  eyes  or  wasted  face 
of  her  child,  alienate  a  mother's  feelings. 

Our  Saviour  sees  in  every  one  of  us  that  which  inspires 
him  with  affection.  If  our  heart  condemn  us,  he  is  greater 
than  our  heart,  and  knoweth  all  things,  and  among  them,  not 
only  sins  which  we  forget,  but  the  sincerity,  and  true  desires, 
and  godly  sorrows,  which  we  have  overlooked  or  underrated. 

Amid  the  changes  of  life,  and  when  you  cease  to  move 
the  affections   or  excite    the    interest  which  were    once    felt 


198  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

toward  you  ;  when  your  outward  and  inward  attractions,  your 
senses,  your  power  to  help  others,  are  greatly  impaired  ;  when 
you  are  old  and  decrepit,  and  are  only  tolerated,  and  are  a 
burden  to  yourself,  the  Saviour  will  love  you  as  he  did  when 
you  were  young.  "  And  even  to  old  age,  I  am  he  ;  and  even 
to  hoary  hairs  will  I  carry  you." 


JOHN    ROBERT   SEELEY. 

[EccE  Homo.     Pp.  50,  51,  176,  177,  188,  322.] 

Christ  announced  himself  as  the  founder  and  legislator 
of  a  new  society,  and  as  the  supreme  judge  of  men.  Now,  by 
what  means  did  he  procure  that  these  immense  pretensions 
should  be  allowed  ?  He  might  have  done  it  by  sheer  power  ; 
he  might  have  adopted  persuasion,  and  pointed  out  the  merits 
of  the  scheme  and  of  the  legislation  he  proposed  to  introduce. 
But  he  adopted  a  third  plan,  which  had  the  effect  not  merely 
of  securing  obedience,  but  of  exciting  enthusiasm  and  devotion. 
He  laid  men  under  an  immense  obligation.  He  convinced 
them  that  he  was  a  person  of  altogether  transcendent  great- 
ness, one  who  needed  nothing  at  their  hands,  one  whom  it 
was  impossible  to  benefit  by  conferring  riches  or  fame  or 
dominion  upon  him,  and  that,  being  so  great,  he  had  devoted 
himself,  of  mere  benevolence,  to  their  good.  He  showed  them 
that  for  their  sakes  he  lived  a  hard  and  laborious  life,  and 
exposed  himself  to  the  utmost  malice  of  powerful  men. 

They  saw  him  hungry,  though  they  believed  him  able  to 
turn  stones  into  bread  ;  they  saw  his  royal  pretensions  spurned, 
though  they  believed  that  he  could  in  a  moment  take  into  his 
hand  all  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and  the  glory  of  them  ; 
they  saw  his  life  in  danger,  they  saw  him  at  last  expire  in 
agony,  though  they  believed  that,  had  he  so  willed  it,  no  danger 
could  harm  him,  and  that,  had  he  thrown  himself  from  the 
topmost  pinnacle  of  the  temple,  he  would  have  been  sofdy 
received   in   the  arms  of  ministering  angels.     Witnessing  his 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  199 

sufferings,  and  convinced  by  the  miracles  they  saw  him  work 
that  they  were  voluntarily  endured,  men's  hearts  were  touched ; 
and  pity  for  weakness,  blending  strangely  with  wondering 
admiration  of  unlimited  power,  an  agitation  of  gratitude, 
sympathy,  and  astonishment,  such  as  nothing  else  could  ever 
excite,  sprang  up  in  them  ;  and  when,  turning  from  his  deeds 
to  his  words,  they  found  this  very  self-denial  which  had  guided 
his  own  life  prescribed  as  the  principle  which  should  guide 
theirs,  gratitude  broke  forth  in  joyful  obedience,  self-denial 
produced  self-denial,  and  the  law  and  the  lawgiver  together 
were  enshrined  in  their  inmost  hearts  for  inseparable 
veneration.   .   .   . 

Let  us  pause  once  more  to  consider  that  which  remains 
throughout  a  subject  of  ever-recurring  astonishment,  —  the 
unbounded  personal  pretensions  which  Christ  advances.  It 
is  common,  in  human  history,  to  meet  with  those  who  claim 
some  superiority  over  their  fellows.  Men  assert  a  pre- 
eminence over  their  fellow-citizens  or  fellow-countr}'men,  and 
become  rulers  of  those  who  at  first  were  their  equals  ;  but 
they  dream  of  nothing  greater  than  some  partial  control  over 
the  actions  of  others  for  the  short  space  of  a  lifetime. 

Few  indeed  are  those  to  whom  it  is  given  to  influence 
future  ages :  yet  some  men  have  appeared  who  have  been  as 
levers  to  uplift  the  earth  and  roll  it  in  another  course.  Homer 
by  creating  literature,  Socrates  by  creating  science,  Caesar  by 
carrying  civilization  inland  from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean, Newton  by  starting  science  upon  a  career  of  steady 
progress,  may  be  said  to  have  attained  this  eminence.  But 
these  men  gave  a  single  impact,  like  that  which  is  conceived 
to  have  first  set  the  planets  in  motion  :  Christ  claims  to  be  a 
perpetual  attractive  power,  like  the  sun  which  determines  their 
orbit.  They  contributed  to  men  some  discovery,  and  passed 
away:   Christ's  discovery  is  himself. 

Of  his  two  great  gifts,  the  power  over  nature  and  the  high 
moral  wisdom  and  ascendency  over  men,  the  former  might  be 
the  more  astonishing,  but   it   is  the  latter  which  gives   him 


200  TESTIMONY   OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

everlasting  dominion.  He  might  have  left  to  all  subsequent 
ages  more  instruction  if  he  had  bestowed  less  time  upon 
diminishing  slightly  the  mass  of  evil  around  him,  and  length- 
ening by  a  span  the  short  lives  of  the  generation  in  the  midst 
of  which  he  lived. 

The  whole  amount  of  good  done  by  such  works  of  charity 
could  not  be  great,  compared  with  Christ's  power  of  doing 
good  ;  and  if  they  were  intended,  as  often  supposed,  merely  as 
attestations  of  his  divine  mission,  a  few  acts  of  the  kind  would 
have  served  his  purpose  as  well  as  many.  Yet  we  may  see 
that  they  were  in  fact  the  great  work  of  his  life  ;  his  biography 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  words,  "  He  went  about  doing 
good."  His  wise  words  were  secondary  to  his  beneficial 
deeds ;  the  latter  were  not  introductory  to  the  former,  but  the 
former  grew  occasionally,  and.  as  it  were,  accidentally,  out  of 
the  latter. 

The  explanation  of  this  is,  that  Christ  merely  reduced  to 
practice  his  own  principle.  His  morality  required  that  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  others  should  not  merely  be  remem- 
bered as  a  restraint  upon  active  action,  but  should  be  made 
the  principal  motive  of  action.  And  what  he  preached  in 
words,  he  preached  still  more  impressively  and  zealously  in 
deeds.  He  .set  the  first  and  greatest  example  of  a  life  wholly 
governed  and  guided  by  the  passion  of  humanity.   .   .   . 

The  crowning  act  of  human  goodness,  when  it  rises  above 
itself,  was  made  by  Christ,  not  in  some  moment  of  elevation, 
not  in  some  extreme  emergency,  but  habitually.  This  is  meant 
when  it  is  said,  he  went  about  doing  good  ;  nor  was  the 
sacrifice  made  for  relative,  or  friend,  or  country,  but  for  all 
everywhere  that  bear  the  name  of  man. 

This  moral  sensitiveness,  this  absolute  harmony  of  inward 
desire  with  outward  obligation,  was  called  by  Christ  and  his 
apostles  by  a  name  of  which  holiness  is  the  recognized  English 
equivalent ;  and  it  is  attributed  to  the  presence  of  a  Divine 
Spirit  within  the  soul.  It  is  the  absolute  and  ultimate  test  of 
true  membership  in  the  Christian  commonwealth.      He  who 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  20I 

has  it  not  cannot  be  a  true  member,  whatever  he  may  have  ; 
and  he  who  has  it  is  a  member,  whatever  he  may  lack.  But 
how  is  this  moral  sensitiveness  produced  ?  It  is  the  effect  of 
a  single  ardent  feeling  excited  in  the  soul.  A  single  concep- 
tion enthusiastically  grasped  is  found  powerful  enough  to 
destroy  the  very  root  of  all  immorality  within  the  heart.  As 
every  enthusiasm  that  a  man  can  conceive  makes  a  certain 
class  of  sins  impossible  to  him,  and  raises  him  not  only  above 
the  commission  of  them,  but  beyond  the  very  temptation  to 
commit  them  ;  so  there  exists  an  enthusiasm  which  makes  all 
sin  whatever  impossible.  This  enthusiasm  is  emphatically  the 
presence  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  called  here  the  enthusiasm 
of  humanity,  because  it  is  that  respect  for  human  beings  which 
no  one  altogether  wants  raised  to  the  point  of  enthusiasm. 
Being  a  reverence  for  human  beings  as  such,  and  not  for  the 
good  qualities  they  may  exhibit,  it  embraces  the  bad  as  well 
as  the  good  ;  and  as  it  contemplates  human  beings  in  their 
ideal,  —  that  is,  in  what  they  might  be,  -:—  it  desires  not  the 
apparent,  but  the  real  and  highest,  welfare  of  each.  Lastly,  it 
includes  the  person  himself  who  feels  it ;  and  loving  self  too 
only  in  the  ideal,  differs  as  much  as  possible  from  selfishness, 
being  associated  with  self-respect,  humility,  and  independence, 
as  selfishness  is  allied  with  self-contempt,  with  arrogance,  and 
with  vanity. 

How  is  this  enthusiasm  kindled  ?  All  virtues  perpetuate 
themselves  in  a  manner.  When  the  pattern  is  once  given,  it 
will  be  printed  in  a  thousand  copies.  This  enthusiasm,  then, 
was  shown  to  men  in  its  most  consummate  form  in  Jesus 
Christ.  From  him  it  flows  as  from  a  fountain.  .  .  .  Since 
Christ  showed  it  to  men,  it  has  been  found  possible  for  them 
to  imitate  it ;  and  every  new  imitation,  by  bringing  the  marvel 
visibly  before  us,  revives  the  power  of  the  original.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  the  enthusiasm  is  kindled  constantly  in  new 
hearts  ;  and  though  in  few  it  burns  brightly,  yet  perhaps  there 
are  not  very  many  in  which  it  altogether  goes  out.  At  least 
the  conception  of  morality  which  Christ  gave  has  now  become 


202  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

the  universal  one,  and  no  man  is  thought  good  who  does  not 
in  some  measure  satisfy  it.   .   .   . 

^  The  story  of  his  hfe  will  always  remain  the  one  record  in 
which  the  moral  perfection  of  man  stands  revealed  in  its  root 
and  its  unity,  the  hidden  spring  made  palpably  manifest  by 
which  the  whole  machine  is  moved.  And  as,  in  the  will  of 
God,  this  unique  man  was  elected  by  a  unique  sorrow,  and 
holds  as  undisputed  a  sovereignty  in  suffering  as  in  self- 
devotion  ;  all  lesser  examples  and  lives  will  forever  hold  a 
subordinate  place,  and  serve  chiefly  to  reflect  light  on  the 
central  and  original  example.  In  his  wounds  all  human 
sorrows  will  hide  themselves,  and  all  human  self-denials 
support  themselves  against  his  cross. 


CHARLES    KINGSLEY. 

[Sermoxs  on  National  Subjects.     London:  i860.     Pp.  93,  94.] 

Do  you  think  he  came,  the  true  and  perfect  king,  only  to 
go  away  again,  and  leave  this  world  as  it  was  before,  without 
a  law,  a  ruler,  a  heavenly  kindom  ?  God  forbid  !  Jesus  is 
the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  forever.  What  he  was  then, 
when  he  rode  in  triumph  into  Jerusalem,  that  is  he  now  to 
us  this  day,  —  a  king,  meek  and  lowly,  and  having  salvation, 
the  head  and  founder  of  a  kingdom  which  can  never  be 
moved.  .  .  . 

He  came  not  only  to  assert  his  own  power,  to  redeem  his 
own  world,  but  to  set  his  people,  the  children  of  men.  an 
example,  that  they  should  follow  in  his  steps.  Herein,  too, 
he  is  the  perfect  king.  He  leads  his  subjects,  he  sets  a  per- 
fect example  to  his  own,  and  inspires  them  with  the  power  of 
following  that  example,  as,  if  you  will  think,  a  perfect  ruler 
ought  to  be  able  to  do. 
^  Jesus,  the  perfect  king,  is  king  of  men's  spirits,  as  well  of 
their  bodies.  He  can  turn  the  heart,  he  can  renew  the  soul. 
None  so  i""norant,  none  so  sinful,  none  so  crushed  down  with 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  203 

evil  habits,  but  the  Lord  can  and  will  forgive  him,  raise  him 
up,  enlighten,  strengthen  him,  if  he  will  but  claim  his  share 
in  his  king's  mercy,  his  citizenship  in  the  heavenly  kingdom, 
and  so  put  himself  in  tune  again  with  himself,  and  with 
heaven  and  earth,  and  all  therein. 


ALBERT   BARNES. 


[Evidences  of  Christianity  in  the  Nineteenth  Century.     New  York-.  1868. 

Pp.  2S5-296.] 

The  general  judgment  of  mankind  on  the  subject  of  human 
perfection  is  undoubtedly  in  accordance  with  the  expressed 
opinion  of  Cicero :  "In  whom  truly  there  shall  be  absolute 
perfection,  we  have  not  as  yet  seen  :  we  have  seen  no  one 
perfect.  It  has  only  been  expounded  by  philosophers  what 
such  a  one  wotild  be,  if  there  should  be  such  a  one." 

To  see  the  full  bearing  on  the  argument,  of  the  remark 
now  made,  it  is  necessary  to  keep  in  mind  the  fact  that  that 
character  has  been  regarded  as  equally  perfect  in  all  these 
eighteen  centuries  which  have  elapsed  since  his  appearing, 
among  all  nations  where  he  has  been  made  known,  by  all 
ranks  and  conditions  of  society.  This  is  an  ordeal  which  a 
character  claimed  to  be  perfect  must  necessarily  pass.  It  is 
not  that  the  character  is  regarded  as  perfect  in  one  age,  or 
among  those  of  a  certain  rank  or  condition  in  life,  but  that  it 
commends  itself  to  those  of  every  age  and  ot  every  condition ; 
and  that,  when  examined  in  view  of  all  the  phases  of  opinion 
which  exist  among  men,  and  of  all  the  standards  of  perfection 
which  are  set  up,  in  reference  to  what  it  would  be  if  repro- 
duced in  a  particular  class,  it  is  still  found  to  be  without  a 
flaw. 

For,  abstractly,  there  are  great  varieties  of  opinion  among 
men  about  what  is  perfect  in  character ;  there  are  different 
standards  of  morality  ;  there  are  different  views  in  philosophy; 
there  are  different  customs  and  opinions ;   there  are  different 


204  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

things  aimed  at  in  life  ;  there  are  different  attempts  to  draw  a 
perfect  character.  That  which  would  seem  to  be  perfect  in 
one  age,  and  according  to  the  mode  of  judging  in  that  age. 
might  be  seen  to  be  very  far  from  being  perfect  when  men 
should  have  more  enlaro^ed  and  correct  views  of  what  consti- 
tutes  perfection ;  and  that  which  would  come  up  to  the  demands 
of  that  more  advanced  age  might  still  show  defects  in  an  age 
still  more  advanced,  and  might  fail  to  meet  the  general  judg- 
ment of  mankind  as  to  a  claim  of  absolute  sinlessness. 

The  claim  set  up  for  the  Saviour,  and  universally  conceded 
with  the  few  exceptions  which  I  have  noticed,  is,  that  it  com- 
mends itself  equally  to  every  age.  to  every  class  of  persons, 
to  the  learned  and  unlearned,  to  sages,  to  philosophers,  and 
to  those  in  humble  life,  —  to  all,  as  absolutely  free  from  sin. 
On  this  fact  my  argument  now  is  based. 

Assuming  now  that  the  character  of  Christ  is  perfect  or 
sinless,  it  will  be  proper,  in  order  to  see  the  force  of  the 
argument,  to  consider  the  attempts  which  have  been  made 
to  draw  or  describe  a  perfect  character. 

One  of  two  thines  is  true  in  rep^ard  to  the  character  ot 
Christ,  as    exhibited  in   the    New  Testament :    it  was    either 
real,  or  it  was   the  work  of  the  Evangelists,  —  the  work  ot 
fiction. 

If  it  was  real,  then  the  question  is  settled  ;  for,  it  he  was 
perfect  and  sinless,  then  he  was  what  he  claimed  to  be.  antl 
was  the  Son  of  God  sent  down  from  heaven. 

If  it  was  the  work  of  the  Evangelists,  then  we  have  to 
show  how  it  was  that  such  plain  men  as  they  were,  and  very 
imperfect  men  themselves,  should  have  been  able  to  set  before 
the  world  a  perfect  imaginary  character ;  how  four  or  more 
men  ot  such  rank  as  they  were  should  have  combined,  in 
separate  narratives,  to  produce  such  a  character  ;  how,  more- 
over, they  should  have  done  it,  not  by  direct  statements,  but 
by  placing  this  imaginary  person  in  a  great  variety  of  situa- 
tions, and  bringing  him  into  contact  with  the  world  for  a 
succession   of  years,  and   under  every  possible  temptation   to 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  205 

tlo  wrong" ;  and  how  they  were  able  so  to  describe  him  that 
he  never  is  represented  as  uttering  a  sentiment,  or  manifesting 
a  feehng,  or  performing  an  action,  which  is  not  conformable 
to  the  highest  standard  of  perfection. 

It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  it  is  a  much  more  difficult 
thing  iox  four  men  to  represent  a  perfect  character  in  such 
details  than  it  would  be  for  one  man  to  carry  out  his  own 
individual  conceptions  ;  as  it  would  be  more  difficult  for  four 
sculptors  to  produce  the  Apollo  Belvedere,  in  the  beauty  of 
its  form  and  proportions,  than  it  was  for  the  one  mind  that 
conceived  it  and  executed  it. 

Moreover,  the  difficulty  is  to  be  explained,  how,  on  the 
supposition  even  that  Christ  actually  lived,  and  was  perfect  or 
sinless,  such  men  had  the  ability  so  to  draw  his  character,  and 
so  to  represent  him,  in  such  a  variety  of  situations,  that  his 
character  should  commend  itself  to  all  ages  as  absolutely 
sinless. 

The  simple  fact  in  the  matter,  whether  the  character  was 
real,  or  whether  it  is  the  creation  of  the  imagination,  is,  that 
they  have  done  what  was  never  before  done,  and  what,  even 
with  this  model  before  them.,  has  never  since  been  done. 

The  attempts  made  by  men  to  draw  a  perfect  character 
have  been  of  two  kinds,  —  from  real  life,  and  from  the  imagi- 
nation ;  real  characters,  and  fictitious  characters. 

The  former  attempts  have  failed,  because  there  have  been 
no  perfect  characters,  and  because  it  has  been  the  work  of  the 
historian  to  describe  men  as  they  are.  Themselves  imperfect 
men,  and  portrayed  by  imperfect  men,  they  stand  before  the 
world  as  imperfect  men. 

Those  works  come  nearest  to  perfection,  as  works  of  art, 
when  they  describe  human  nature  most  accurately.  Shak- 
speare  does  not  describe  perfect  characters.  It  may  be 
doubted  whether  he  ever  attempted  it,  or  designed  to  describe 
one.  The  characters  in  novels,  as  the  characters  in  history, 
are  not  perfect  characters  ;  and,  if  any  one  has  attempted  to 
draw  such  a  character,  it  is  easy  at  once  to  see,  whatever  else 


206  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

it  may  be,  how  unlike  it  is  to  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Where  is  there  a  character  in  fiction  that  can  be  held  up  to 
all  the  world  in  all  ages  ;  that  can  represent  man  in  all  relations 
and  circumstances ;  that  can  be  a  sinless  model  in  conduct, 
alike  toward  God  and  toward  men  ;  that  can  be  a  model  for 
kings  and  princes,  sages  and  philosophers,  the  humble,  the 
unlearned,  the  lowly,  the  down-trodden,  —  in  prosperity  and  in 
adversity,  in  joy  and  in  sorrow ;  in  benevolence,  in  purity, 
in  gentleness,  in  the  love  of  truth,  in  the  love  of  justice ;  in 
childhood,  in  youth,  and  in  middle  age  ;  under  obloquy  and 
reproach  ;  in  dealing  with  crafty  and  unprincipled  men  ;  in 
abandonment  and  persecution  ;  in  the  severest  form  of  death, 
and  under  all  that  could  shake  the  firmness  of  virtue,  —  where 
is  there,  where  has  there  been,  such  a  character  in  reality  or 
in  fiction,  except  in  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ? 

There  has  been  no  agrreement  amonof  men  as  to  what 
would  be  such  a  standard  of  character.  The  idea  would  difter 
in  different  ages,  and  among  different  nations.  A  Hebrew 
would  have  set.  up  one  standard,  an  Egyptian  another,  a 
Greek  another,  a  Roman  another,  a  Persian  another ;  an 
inhabitant  of  China  now  has  one  ideal  standard,  a  Hindoo 
another,  a  New  Zealander  another.  A  nobleman  has  one 
idea,  a  philosopher  another,  a  priest  another.  A  mandarin 
has  one  idea,  a  Brahmin  another,  a  Turkish  mufti  another. 
A  Pharisee  had  one,  a  Sadducee  another,  and.  one  of  the  sect 
of  the  Essenes  another.  Antony  in  Egypt,  and  Benedict  in 
Italy,  founders  of  the  monastic  system,  one  ;  Ignatius  Loyola 
and  Xavier,  another.  A  Catholic  priest  has  one  idea ;  a  Prot- 
estant minister  of  religion,  another.  A  peasant  of  Galilee 
could  hardly  be  supposed  to  have  the  sanie  standard  which 
would  l)e  approved  in  Corinth. 

There  was  this  special  difficult)-  in  the  case,  also,  that  the 
work  was  to  be  done,  not  by  one  person  who  could  carry  out 
his  own  conceptions,  but  by  .several  persons,  either  acting  in 
concert,  or  acting  independently  of  each  other.  One  man  — 
Homer,  Virgil,  Milton,  Shakspeare  —  can  easily  carry  out  his 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  207 

own  conceptions,  and  secure  unity  and  concinnity  in  an  epic 
or  a  tragedy,  however  long  it  may  be,  or  however  many  char- 
acters are  introduced.  The  writer  of  the  epic  can  place  his 
hero  in  a  great  variety  of  situations,  and  still  have  before  him 
the  same  hero,  acting  in  conformity  with  his  character  ;  the 
writer  of  the  drama  can  place  any  variety  of  characters  in 
different  situations,  and  lead  them  forth  in  a  great  variety  of 
action,  and  still  can  so  preserve  his  plan,  and  keep  up  the 
identit^vthat  Hamlet  and  Lear  and  Othello  are  always  rec- 
ognized when  they  speak.  But  the  case  would  be  much  more 
difficult  and  complicated,  if  it  were  supposed  that  the  Iliad, 
the  yEneid,  the  Paradise  Lost,  or  Hamlet  were  respectively 
the  production  of  a  society  or  combinations  of  poets. 

One  sculptor  can  carry  out  his  own  conceptions,  and  pro- 
duce symmetry,  concinnity,  harmony,  in  his  statue  ;  for  the 
statue  is  in  his  mind,  and  he  can  copy  it  as  it  is  there  com- 
bined in  its  proper  proportions.  But  suppose  a  company  of 
artists  to  have  undertaken  to  execute  the  statue  of  Minerva 
or  the  Apollo  ;  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  matter  would  be 
complicated,  and  how  improbable  it  would  have  been  that 
statues  with  such  beauties  of  proportion  and  form  would  ever 
have  existed. 

The  statue  of  Minerva,  the  Apollo  Belvedere,  the  Venus 
di  Medici,  and  the  still  more  complicated  Laocoon,  are  respec 
tively  the  work  of  one  artist.     One  mind  formed  the  concep- 
tion ;    one   hand   carried  out  the  conception  ;    one  idea  runs 
through  the  entire  work  as  a  work  of  art. 

But  suppose  that  any  one  of  these,  either  the  most  simple 
or  the  most  complicated,  were  the  work  of  different  men, — 
the  production  of  a  society  of  artists,  and  not  of  an  individual, 
either  with  or  without  a  common  ap^reement  or  understandine. 
Suppose  it  to  be  left  to  one  man  to  form  the  head,  to  a  second 
the  hand,  to  a  third  the  foot,  to  a  fourth  the  body,  each 
according  to  his  different  ideas  of  beauty.  Or  suppose,  in 
one  case,  that  it  was  left  to  independent  workmen  to  carry 
out  an   idea  of  perfection   already  agreed   upon,  and   to    be 


208  TESTIMONY   OF  NINETEEN    CENTURIES 

produced  by  their  joint  labors;  suppose,  in  another  case,  that 
four  men  should  undertake,  without  a  concerted  idea,  to  form 
independently,  by  working  on  different  parts  of  the  statue, 
the  image  of  a  perfect  man 

And  yet  this  would  present  but  a  small  part  of  the  diffi- 
culty in  drawing  such  a  character  as  that  of  the  Saviour  — 
perfect  as  a  man.  For  there  is  a  block  of  marble  to  be 
moulded  at  will.  It  is  cold,  passive,  subject  wholly  to  the 
control  of  the  chisel.  It  has  no  will,  no  passion,  nopfeeling, 
no  character.  It  has  no  complications  of  fancy,  intellect, 
affections.  You  can  make  it  what  you  please  ;  and,  when  any 
part  is  made,  it  remains  the  same.  The  idea  rises  before  you 
with  nothing  to  disturb  you  ;  and  when  complete,  there  it 
stands,  as  you  intended  it  should.  Here  there  is  will,  and 
feeling,  and  purpose,  and  mind,  and  heart,  and  action. — all 
varying,  and  all  producing  endless  complications. 

It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  also,  that  the  plan  was,  not  to 
present  the  abstract  conception  of  a  perfect  man,  but  to  place 
him  in  an  almost  endless  variety  of  situations,  and  to  show 
how  he  acted  there,  with  no  comment  on  his  conduct  with 
reference  to  the  question  whether  it  was  consistent  or  not, 
and  manifestly  with  no  anxiety  on  that  point,  without  even 
saying  that  he  was  perfect,  —  for  that  was  not  affirmed  by  the 
Evangelists  themselves,  —  but  to  describe  him  as  acti?tg,  leav- 
ing the  world  to  judge  from  his  actions  whether  he  was  a 
perfect  being.  Accordingly  he  appears  before  us  in  all  the 
circumstances  in  which  a  human  being  can  ordinarily  be 
placed  ;  in  such  an  endless  diversity  that  the  character,  what- 
ever it  was,  could  not  but  be  developed.  He  makes  a  thousand 
speeches ;  he  performs  a  thousand  actions ;  he  meets  with 
thousands  of  people  ;  he  is  placed  in  situations  of  provocation 
and  temptation  ;  he  is  among  friends  and  among  foes  ;  he  is 
with  th(;  wicked  and  the  good  ;  he  is  with  the  sick  and  the 
(lying;  he;  addresses  great  multitudes  in  public  ;  he  warns  and 
denounces  the  wicked,  and  he  pours  consolation  into  the 
hearts  of   those  who  \v<.'('p  in  private. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  2 09 

The  life  of  Christ  is  not  a  fiction.  Christ  is  a  real  histori- 
cal personage,  as  real  as  Caesar  or  Alexander.  You  can  make 
nothing  of  history,  of  nations,  of  opinions,  of  philosophy, 
of  the  world,  of  any  thing  in  the  past,  if  this  is  denied.  All 
history  is  connected  with  that  life  ;  all  history,  for  eighteen 
hundred  years  at  least,  turns  on  that  life.  The  fact  that  he 
lived,  and  founded  the  Christian  religion,  is  recognized  by 
Josephus,  by  Tacitus,  by  Pliny.  It  is  not  denied  by  Celsus, 
by  Porphyry,  by  Julian,  as  it  would  have  been  if  it  could  have 
been  done.  It  is  not  denied  by  Mr.  Gibbon,  but  in  his  labored 
argument  he  everywhere  assumes  it.  It  is  not  denied  by 
Strauss :  it  is  not  denied  by  Renan. 

It  is  not  a  work  of  genius.  Genius  has  never  drawn  such 
a  character :  genius  has  never  drawn  a  perfect  character  at  all. 
Besides,  his  biographers,  the  fishermen  of  Galilee,  were  7iot 
remarkable  for  genius  unless  the  fact  of  portraying  the  life  of 
Christ  proves  that  they  were.  They  did  nothing  else  remark- 
able. They  wrote  no  poetry.  They  promulgated  no  new 
system  of  philosophy.  They  composed  no  new  works  of 
fiction,  unless  this  is  one.  They  wrote  no  dramas  to  make 
them  immortal,  as  Sophocles,  Terence,  and  ^schylus  did. 
They  gave  the  world  no  inventions  in  the  arts.  They  made 
no  discoveries  in  science.  They  suggested  no  improvements 
in  architecture,  in  ship-building,  in  the  implements  of  agri- 
culture, even  in  their  own  employment,  —  in  the  methods 
of  fishing.  They  would  have  lived  and  died  unknown,  all  of 
them,  forgotten  just  as  soon  as  they  died,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  their  life  of  Christ.  Nothing  else  that  they  did  would 
have  made  a  ripple  on  the  great  flowing  stream  of  the  world's 
events.     Fishermen  are  not  commonly  immortal. 

Moreover,  if  it  were  supposed  that  they  undertook,  by 
combination  and  concert,  to  engage  in  such  a  work  as  this, 
we  certainly  should  not  have  had  this  life.  We  should 
either  have  had  a  character  intensely  and  thoroughly  Jezvish, 
—  which  the  character  of  Jesus  is  not.  —  with  Jewish  concep- 
tions, a  narrow,  bigoted  Jewish  Messiah,  a  prince,  a  conqueror. 


2  10  TESTIMONY  OF  NIXETEEN   CENTURIES 

a  deliverer,  a  Judas  Maccabaeus,  a  restorer  of  the  pomp  and 
pride  of  the  ancient  monarchy,  in  accordance  with  the  Jewish 
conceptions  of  the  Messiah  ;  or  we  should  have  had  a  biogra- 
phy full  of  trifles,  and  small  conceits,  of  foolish  marvels,  of 
improbable  stories,  —  a  biography  that  might  have  rivalled 
the  Arabian  Nights  Entertainment,  such  as  the  writers  of  the 
Jewish  Talmud  would  have  been  likely  to  produce.  We 
should  never  have  had  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as 
we  have  it  now  in  the  New  Testament. 

It  is  to  be  remarked  also,  that,  in  thus  drawing  the  perfect 
character  of  Christ,  the  Evangelists,  or  the  disciples  who 
followed  him,  did  not  always  themselves  see  that  his  character 
was  perfect,  or  that  he  was  always  acting  in  the  wisest  manner. 
On  that  point  they  often  had  doubts ;  but  they  recorded  the 
facts  as  they  occurred,  and  time  has  shown  that  his  conduct 
was  perfect  and  wise. 


WILLIAM   ELLERY    CHANNING. 

[Complete  Works.     London  Edition.     Pp.  217,  218,  243,  245,  246.] 

Our  long  familiarity  with  Jesus  blunts  our  minds  to  his 
•singular  excellence.  We  probably  have  often  read  of  the 
character  which  he  claimed,  without  a  thought  of  its  extraor- 
dinary nature.  But  I  know  nothing  so  sublime.  The  plans 
and  labors  of  statesmen  sink  into  the  sports  of  children  when 
■  compared  with  the  work  which  Jesus  announced,  and  to  which 
he  devoted  himself  in  life  and  death,  with  a  thorough  con- 
sciousness of  its  reality.  The  idea  of  changing  the  moral 
aspect  of  the  whole  earth,  of  recovering  all  nations  to  the 
pure  and  inward  worship  of  one  God  and  to  a  spirit  of  divine 
and  fraternal  love,  was  one  of  which  we  meet  not  a  trace  in 
philo.sopher  or  legislator  before  him.  The  human  mind  had 
given  no  promise  of  this  extent  of  view.  The  conception  of 
this  enterprise,  and  the  calm,  unshaken  expectation  of  success 
in  one  who  had  no  station  and  no  wealth,  who  cast  from  him 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  211 

the  sword  with  abhorrence,  and  who  forbade  his  disciples  to 
use  any  weapons  but  those  of  love,  discover  a  wonderful  trust 
in  the  power  of  God  and  the  power  of  love  ;  and  when  to  this 
we  add  that  Jesus  looked  not  only  to  the  triumph  of  his  pure 
faith  in  the  present  world,  but  to  a  mighty  and  a  beneficent 
power  in  heaven,  we  witness  a  vastness  of  purpose,  a  grand- 
eur of  thought  and  feeling,  so  original,  so  superior  to  the 
workings  of  all  other  minds,  that  nothing  but  our  familiarity 
can  prevent  our  contemplation  of  it  with  wonder  and  profound 
awe. 

I  confess,  when  I  can  escape  the  deadening  power  of  habit, 
and  can  receive  the  full  import  of  such  passages  as  the  follow- 
ing:  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  I  will  give  you  rest ;  "  "I  am  come  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  was  lost ;  "  "  He  that  confesseth  me  before  men, 
him  will  I  confess  before  my  Father  in  heaven  ;  "  "  Whoso- 
ever shall  be  ashamed  of  me  before  men,  of  him  shall  the 
Son  of  man  be  ashamed  when  he  cometh  in  the  glory  of 
the  Father  with  the  holy  angels  ;  "  "  In  my  Father's  house  are 
many  mansions  ;  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  you,"  —  I  say, 
when  I  can  succeed  in  realizing  the  import  of  such  passages, 
I  feel  myself  listening  to  a  being  such  as  never  before  and 
never  since  spoke  in  human  language.  I  am  awed  by  the 
consciousness  of  greatness  which  these  simple  words  express ; 
and  when  I  connect  this  greatness  with  the  proofs  of  Christ's 
miracles,  I  am  compelled  to  exclaim  with  the  centurion, 
"Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God."  ... 

Thus  Jesus  lived  with  men  ;  with  the  consciousness  of 
unutterable  majesty  he  joined  a  lowliness,  gentleness,  human- 
ity, and  sympathy,  which  have  no  example  in  human  history. 
In  proportion  to  the  superiority  of  Jesus  to  all  around  him, 
was  the  intimacy,  the  brotherly  love,  with  which  he  bound 
himself  to  them.  I  maintain  that  this  is  a  character  wholly 
remote  from  human  conception.  To  imagine  it  to  be  the 
production  of  imposture  or  enthusiasm,  shows  a  strange  un- 
soundness of  mind.     I  contemplate  it  with  a  veneration  second 


212  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

only  to  the  profound  awe  with  which  I  look  up  to  God.  It 
bears  no  mark  of  human  invention,  it  was  real.  It  belonged 
to,  and  it  manifested,  the  beloved  Son  of  God.  .   .   . 

I  know  not  what  can  be  added  to  heighten  the  wonder, 
reverence,  and  love  which  are  due  to  Jesus.  When  I  con- 
sider him,  not  only  as  possessed  with  the  consciousness  of  an 
unexampled  and  unbounded  majesty,  but  as  recognizing  a 
kindred  nature  in  human  beings,  and  living  and  dying  to 
raise  them  to  a  participation  of  his  divine  glories  ;  and  when 
I  see  him  under  these  views  allying  himself  to  men  by  the 
tenderest  ties,  embracing  them  with'  a  spirit  of  humanity 
which  no  insult,  injury,  or  pain  could  for  a  moment  repel  or 
overpower,  I  am  filled  with  wonder  as  well  as  reverence  and 
love.  I  feel  that  this  character  is  not  of  human  invention  ; 
that  it  was  not  assumed  through  fraud,  or  struck  out  by 
enthusiasm  ;  for  it  is  infinitely  above  their  reach.  When  I 
add  this  character  of  Jesus  to  the  other  evidences  of  his 
religion,  it  gives  to  what  before  seemed  so  strong  a  new  and 
a  vast  accession  of  strength.  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  be 
deceived.  The  Gospels  must  be  true  ;  they  were  drawn  from 
a  living  original ;  they  w^ere  founded  on  reality.  The  charac- 
ter of  Jesus  is  not  a  fiction  ;  he  was  what  he  claimed  to  be, 
and  what  his  followers  attested.  Nor  is  this  all.  Jesus  not  only 
was,  he  is  still  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.   .  .  . 

The  character  of  Jesus  was  original.  He  formed  a  new 
era  in  the  moral  history  of  the  hunian  race.  His  perfection 
was  not  that  of  his  age,  nor  a  copy  of  the  greatness  which 
had  long  engrossed  the  world's  admiration.  He  borrowed 
from  none,  and  leaned  on  none.  Surrounded  by  men  of  low 
thoughts,  he  rose  to  a  conception  of  a  higher  form  of  human 
virtue  than  had  yet  been  realized  or  imagined,  and  tlelibcr- 
ately  devoted  himself  to  its  promotion,  as  the  supreme  object 
of  his  life  and  death.  Conscious  of  being  dedicated  to  this 
great  work,  he  spoke  with  a  calm  dignity,  an  unaflected 
elevation,  which  separated  him  from  all  other  teachers.  Un- 
supported, he  never  wavered;  sufficient  to  himself,  he  refused 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  2  1 3 

alliance  with  wealth  and  power.  Yet  with  all  this  self-sub- 
sistence and  uncompromising  energy,  his  character  was  the 
mildest,  the  gentlest,  the  most  attractive,  ever  manifested 
among-  men.  It  could  not  have  been  a  fiction  ;  for  who  could 
have  conceived  it,  or  who  could  have  embodied  the  conception 
in  such  a  life  as  Jesus  is  said  to  have  lived  in  action,  words, 
manners,  so  natural  and  unstudied,  so  imbued  with  reality, 
so  worthy  of  the  Son  of  God  ? 

The  great  distinction  of  Jesus  was  a  philanthropy  without 
mixture  and  without  bounds  ;  a  philanthropy  uniting  grand- 
eur and  meekness  in  beautiful  proportions ;  a  philanthropy 
as  wise  as  it  was  fervent,  which  comprehended  the  true  wants 
and  the  true  good  of  man  ;  which  compassionated,  indeed,  his 
sufferings  from  abroad,  but  which  saw  in  the  soul  the  deep 
fountain  of  his  miseries,  and  labored,  by  regenerating  this, 
to  bring  him  to  a  pure  and  enduring  happiness. 

So  peculiar,  so  unparalleled,  was  the  benevolence  of  Jesus, 
that  it  has  impressed  itself  on  all  future  time.  There  went 
forth  a  virtue,  a  beneficent  influence,  from  his  character,  which 
operates  even  now. 

Since  the  death  of  Christ,  a  spirit  of  humanity,  unknown 
before,  has  silently  diffused  itself  over  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  earth.  A  new  standard  of  virtue  has  gradually  pos- 
sessed itself  of  the  veneration  of  men.  A  new  power  has 
been  acting  on  society,  which  has  done  more  than  all  other 
causes  combined  to  disarm  the  selfish  passions,  and  to  bind 
men  strongly  to  one  another  and  to  God.  What  a  monu- 
ment have  we  here  to  the  virtue  of  Jesus !  And  if  Christian- 
ity has  such  a  founder,  it  must  have  come  from  heaven.  .  .  . 

The  character  of  Christ  has  withstood  the  most  deadly 
and  irresistible  foe  of  error  and  unfounded  claims,  —  I  mean 
time.  It  has  lost  nothing  of  its  elevation  by  the  improvements 
of  ages.  Since  he  appeared,  society  has  gone  forward,  men's 
views  have  become  enlarged,  and  philosophy  has  risen  to 
conceptions  of  far  purer  virtues  than  were  the  boasts  of 
antiquity.     But,  however  the  human  mind  may  have  advanced, 


214  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

it  must  still  look  upward  if  it  would  see  and  understand  Christ. 
He  is  still  above  it.  Nothing  purer,  nobler,  has  yet  dawned 
on  human  thoughts. 

Then  Christianity  is  true.  The  delineation  of  Jesus  in  the 
Gospels,  so  warm  with  life,  and  so  unrivalled  with  loveliness 
and  grandeur,  required  the  existence  of  an  original.  To 
suppose  that  this  character  was  invented  by  unprincipled 
men,  amidst  Jewish  and  heathen  darkness,  and  was  then 
imposed  as  a  reality  in  the  very  age  of  the  founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, argues  an  excess  of  credulity,  and  a  strange  ignorance 
of  the  powers  and  principles  of  human  nature.  The  character 
of  Jesus  was  real ;  and  if  so,  Jesus  must  have  been  what  he 
professed  to  be,  the  Son  of  God,  and  the  Revealer  of  his 
mercy  and  his  will  to  mankind. 


FREDERICK  WILLIAM  ROBERTSON. 

[Sermons.     New  York  :  1870.     Pp.  6S5-6S7.] 

Let  us  turn  to  the  character  of  our  blessed  Redeemer, 
and  we  shall  find  the  proof  of  his  perfect  purity,  in  the  testi- 
mony of  his  enemies,  of  his  friends,  and  of  those  indifferent 
to  him.  We  have,  first,  the  evidence  of  his  enemies.  For 
three  long  years,  the  Pharisees  were  watching  their  victim. 
There  was  the  Pharisees  mingling  in  every  crowd,  hiding 
behind  every  tree.  They  examined  his  disciples  ;  they  cross- 
questioned  all  around  him ;  they  looked  into  his  ministerial 
life,  into  his  domestic  privacy,  into  his  hours  of  retirement. 
They  came  forward  with  the  sole  accusation  they  could 
muster,  —  tliat  he  had  shown  disrespect  to  the  Roman  gov- 
ernor. The  Roman  judge,  who  at  least  should  know,  had 
pronounced  the  accusation  null  and  void. 

There  was  another  spy.  It  was  Judas.  If  there  had  been 
one  act  of  sin,  one  failing  in  all  the  Redeemer's  career  that 
bt'trayed  ambition,  that  betrayed  any  dt^sire  to  aggrandize 
himself,   in    his   hour  of  terrible  remorse,  Judas  would   have 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  2  1 5 

remembered  it  for  his  own  comfort ;  but  the  bitterness  of  his 
feelings,  that  which  made  Hfe  insufferable,  was  that  he  had 
"  betrayed  innocent  blood." 

Pass  we  on  to  those  who  were  indifferent.  And,  first,  we 
have  the  opinion  of  Pilate  himself.  Contemporary  historians 
tell  us  that  Pilate  was  an  austere  and  cruel  man,  a  man  of 
firm  resolves,  and  one  who  shrank  not  from  the  destruction 
of  human  life  :  but  we  see  here,  that  for  once  the  cruel  man 
became  merciful  ;  for  once,  the  man  of  resolve  became  timid. 
It  was  not  merely  that  he  thought  Jesus  was  innocent :  the 
hard  Roman  mind  would  have  cared  little  for  the  sacrifice  of 
an  obscure  Jew.  The  soul  of  Pilate  was  pervaded  with  the 
feeling  that  spotless  innocence  stood  before  him ;  and  this 
feeling  extended  even  to  Pilate's  wife,  for  we  find  that  she 
sent  to  him  and  said,  "  Have  thou  nothing  to  do  with  that 
just  man."  It  was  not  because  he  was  going  to  pass  an  unjust 
sentence,  —  he  had  often  done  so  before,  —  but  she  felt  that 
here  was  an  innocent  one  who  must  not  be  condemned. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  testimony  of  his  friends.  They 
tell  us  that  during  their  intercourse  of  three  years,  his  was  a 
life  unsullied  by  a  single  spot :  and  I  pray  you  to  remember, 
that  tells  us  something  of  the  holiness  of  the  thirty  previous 
years  ;  for  no  man  springs  from  sin  into  perfect  righteousness 
at  once.  If  there  has  been  any  early  wrong-doing,  though  a 
man  may  be  changed,  yet  there  is  something  left  that  tells 
of  his  early  character ;  a  want  of  refinement,  of  delicacy,  of 
purity ;  a  tarnish  has  passed  upon  the  brightness,  and  cannot 
be  rubbed  off.  If  we  turn  to  the  testimony  of  John  the  Bap- 
tist, his  contemporary,  about  the  same  age,  one  \A\o  knew 
him  not  at  first  as  the  Messiah  ;  yet,  when  the  Son  of  man 
comes  to  him  simply  as  a  man,  and  asks  him  to  baptize  him, 
John  turns  away  in  astonishment,  shocked  at  the  idea.  "  I 
have  need  to  be  baptized  of  thee  ;  and  comest  thou  to  me  ? " 
In  other  words,  the  purest  and  most  austere  man  that  could 
be  found  on  earth  was  compelled  to  acknowledge  that  in  him 
who  came  for  baptism,  there  was  neither  stain  nor  spot  that 


2l6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

the  water  of  Jordan  was  needed  to  wash  away.  So  we  see 
that  there  was  no  actual  transgression  in  our  blessed  Lord. 

Now  let  us  see  what  the  inward  life  was  ;  for  it  is  very 
possible  that  there  may  be  no  outward  transgression,  and  yet 
that  the  heart  may  not  be  pure.  It  is  possible  that  outwardly 
all  may  seem  right,  through  absence  of  temptation,  and  yet 
there  may  be  the  want  of  inward  perfection.  Of  the  perfec- 
tion of  Jesus,  we  can  have  but  one  testimony  :  it  cannot  be 
that  of  the  Apostles,  for  the  lesser  cannot  judge  the  greater; 
and  therefore  we  turn  to  himself.  He  said,  "  Which  of  you 
can  charge  me  with  sin  ? "  Now  we  must  remember,  that 
just  in  proportion  as  a  man  becomes  more  holy,  does  he  feel 
and  acknowledge  the  evil  that  is  in  him.  Thus  it  was  with 
the  Apostle  Paul :  he  declared,  "  I  am  the  chief  of  sinners." 
But  here  is  one  who  attained  the  highest  point  of  human 
excellence,  who  was  acknowledged  even  by  his  enemies  to 
be  blameless,  who  declares  himself  to  be  sinless. 

If,  then,  the  Son  of  man  were  not  the  promised  Redeemer, 
he,  the  humblest  of  mankind,  might  justly  be  accused  of 
pride  :  the  purest  of  mankind  would  be  deemed  to  be  uncon- 
scious of  the  evil  that  was  in  him.  He  who  looked  so  deeply 
into  the  hearts  of  others,  is  ignorant  of  his  own  ;  the  truest 
of  mankind  is  guilty  of  the  worst  of  falsehoods  ;  the  noblest  of 
mankind,  guilty  of  the  sin  of  sins,  — the  belief  that  he  had  no 
sin.  Let  but  the  infidel  grant  us  that  human  nature  has  never 
attained  to  what  it  attained  in  the  character  of  Jesus,  then  we 
carry  him  still  further,  that  even  he  whom  he  acknowledged 
to  be  the  purest  of  men,  declared  himself  to  be  spotless,  which, 
if  it  \v(;re  false,  would  at  once  do  away  with  all  the  purity 
which  he  grants  was  his.  It  was  not  only  the  outward  acts, 
but  the  inner  life  of  Jesus,  which  was  so  pure.  His  mind 
regulates  every  other  mind  ;  it  moves  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  mind  of  God.  In  all  the  just  men  that  ever  lived,  you  will 
find  some  peculiarity  carried  into  excess.  We  note  this  in 
the  zeal  of  St.  John,  in  the  courage  of  St.  Peter,  in  the  truth- 
seeking  of  St.  Thomas.     It  was  not  so  with  Jesus.     No  one 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  217 

department  of  his  human  nature  ever  superseded  another  ;  all 
was  harmony  there.  The  one  sound  which  has  come  down 
from  God  in  perfect  melody  is  his  life,  the  entire  unbroken 
music  of  humanity. 


WILLIAM    E.    GLADSTONE. 

[Review  of  Ecce  Homo,  from  Gleanings  of  Past  Years.    New  York:  1879.    Vol- 

iii.  pp.  84,  93  ] 

It  appears,  as  respects  the  person  of  our  Lord,  that  its 
ordinary  exhibition  to  ordinary  hearers  and  spectators  was 
that  of  a  man  engaged  in  the  best  and  holiest  and  tenderest 
ministries,  among  all  the  saddest  of  human  miseries  and  trials; 
of  one  teaching  in  word,  too,  the  best  and  holiest  and  tender- 
est lessons,  and  claiming,  unequivocally  and  without  appeal, 
a  paramount  authority  for  what  he  said  and  did,  but  beyond 
this  asserting  respecting  himself  nothing,  and  leaving  him- 
self to  be  freely  judged  by  the  character  of  his  words  and 
deeds.  ... 

Through  the  fair  gloss  of  his  manhood,  we  perceive  the 
rich  bloom  of  his  divinity.  If  he  is  not  now  without  an 
assailant,  at  least  he  is  without  a  rival.  If  he  be  not  the  Sun 
of  righteousness,  the  Friend  that  gives  his  life  for  his  friends 
and  that  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother,  the  unfailing  Consoler, 
the  constant  Guide,  the  everlasting  Priest  and  King,  at  least, 
as  all  must  confess,  there  is  no  other  to  come  into  his  room. 


JULIUS    MULLER. 

[Voices  of  the  Church.     London :  1845.     Pp-  3°)  39-] 

We  know  these  Jewish  Christian  communities,  from  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  from  the  Apostolic  Epistles,  suffi- 
ciently well  to  judge,  that  a  mythical  production,  in  such  a 
sphere,  must  have  been  of  quite  a  different  and  incomparably 


2i8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

more  limited  character,  or  one  which,  amidst  some  commin- 
glings  of  more  elevated  and  liberal  tendencies  in  the  compo- 
sition, would  still  have  been  confused  and  unconnected.  It 
would  not  have  been  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels ;  a  character, 
the  entire  sketch  of  which  combines  the  most  elevated  cour- 
age with  the  greatest  simplicity,  embracing  opposite  qualities, 
some  of  which  contain  such  stupendous  paradoxes,  that  indi- 
vidual traits  often  appear,  at  first  view,  contradictory ;  whilst, 
on  a  more  familiar  consideration,  there  is  revealed  in  these 
very  points,  all  the  more,  the  depth  and  living  truth  of  this 
character.  How  this  portrait,  which  the  most  ancient  Chris- 
tendom never  once  fully  understood,  as  the  documents  out  of 
the  second  century  sufficiently  show,  and  many  of  the  features 
of  which  first  came  forth  from  darkness,  to  the  full  light  of 
day,  through  the  Reformation,  —  how  this  could  have  origin- 
ated from  the  degree  of  knowledge  existing  among  the 
Christian  communities  of  that  period,  is  quite  inexplicable. 

But  if  the  mythical  mist  which  Dr.  Strauss,  in  his  criticism 
of  the  Gospel  history,  spreads  around  the  life  of  Jesus,  once 
vanishes,  we  shall  see  the  whole  undertaking  sink  as  unten- 
able, down  to  the  ground  on  which  the  Fragmentary  Essays 
at  Wolfenbiittel,  and  similar  attacks  upon  the  truth  of  the 
Gospel  history,  rest.  For,  to  give  out  intentional  fiction  in 
complete  earnest,  for  historical  facts,  and  for  this  purpose  to 
lend  to  it  the  form  of  the  most  quiet  and  unadorned  narrative, 
this  is  quite  correctly  called  to  lie,  whether  it  appear  in  the 
East  or  in  the  West ;  and  the  more  void  of  all  conscience, 
and  the  more  cynical,  is  the  lie,  in  proportion  as  the  object  to 
which  such  fiction  refers  is  holy  and  of  vast  importance. 

Then,  however,  the  whole  character  of  the  Gospel  narra- 
tives ;  ilu;  honest,  true-hearted  meaning  of  their  authors, 
which  light  up  the  whole  ;  all  that  we  know  of  the  religious 
and  moral  condition  of  the  earliest  communities  ;  the  appear- 
ance of  a  man  like  the  Apostle  Paul ;  the  joyous  martyrdom  of 
the  Church,  which  began  even  when  our  Gospels  originated  ; 
the   irresistible:  power  which    Christianity  exercises  over  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  219 

whole  spiritual  development  of  the  human  race  ;  all  its  sancti- 
fying and  blessed  effects  in  history,  —  all  this  would  be  the 
most  incomprehensible  riddle,  and  the  most  tormenting  con- 
tradiction. The  holy  and  divine  form  of  the  Redeemer  of 
the  world  would  then  appear  no  longer  as  an  enlightened 
portrait  upon  a  thick  cloud  of  myths,  but  would  rear  itself  out 
of  a  dark  abyss  of  deception  and  of  wild,  unbridled  fanaticism. 
And  if  thus  the  highest  phenomenon  in  the  sphere  of 
religious  life  dissolve  itself  into  a  monstrous  deception,  then 
would  it  indeed  be  all  over  with  religion,  and  it  w^ould  be 
high  time  for  philosophy  to  take  charge  of  the  orphaned  race. 
And  yet,  what  kind  of  weapons  in  the  end  would  philosophy 
possess,  in  order  to  protect  itself  against  a  scepticism  that 
swallows  up  every  thing,  if  it  must  acknowledge  idle  dreams 
and  fanatical  fictions  to  be  the  mightiest  impulses  in  the 
development  of  the  human  mind  ? 


HORACE    BUSHNELL. 

[Nature  and  the  Supernatural.    New  York:  1S60.    Pp.  304,  314,  317,  318,  321, 

322,  zi^A 

Christ,  if  we  call  him  a  philosopher  (and  if  he  is  only  a 
man,  we  can  call  him  by  no  higher  name) ,  was  the  poor  man's 
philosopher,  —  the  first  and  only  one  that  had  ever  appeared. 
He  laid  his  foundations,  as  it  were,  below  all  influence,  and, 
as  men  would  judge,  threw  himself  away.  And  precisely  did 
he  here  display  a  wisdom  and  a  character  totally  in  advance 
of  his  age.  Eighteen  centuries  have  passed  away,  and  w^e 
now  seem  just  beginning  to  understand  the  transcendent 
depth  of  this  feature  in  his  mission  and  character.  We  appear 
to  be  just  waking  up  to  it,  as  a  discovery,  that  the  blessing 
and  upraising  of  the  masses  are  the  fundamental  interests  of 
society,  —  a  discovery,  however,  which  is  only  a  proof  that  the 
life  of  Jesus  has  at  length  begun  to  penetrate  society  and 
public  history.     It  is  precisely  this  which  is  working  so  many 


220  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

and  great  changes  in  our  times ;  giving  liberty  and  right  to 
the  enslaved  many,  seeking  their  education,  encouraging  their 
efforts  by  new  and  better  hopes,  producing  an  aversion  to 
war,  which  has  been  the  fatal  source  of  their  misery  and 
depression,  and  opening,  as  we  hope,  a  new  era  of  comfort, 
light,  and  virtue,  in  the  world.  It  is  as  if  some  higher  and 
better  thought  had  visited  our  race,  —  which  higher  thought 
is  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  The  schools  of  all  the  philosophers  are 
gone  hundred  of  years  ago,  and  all  other  visions  have  died 
away  into  thin  air ;  but  the  poor  man's  philosopher  still  lives, 
bringing  up  his  poor  to  liberty,  light,  and  character,  drawing 
the  nations  on  to  a  brighter  and  a  better  day.   .   .  . 

Call  him,  then,  who  will,  a  man,  a  human  teacher;  what 
human  teacher  ever  came  down  thus  upon  the  soul  of  the 
race  as  a  beam  of  light  from  the  skies,  —  pure  light,  shining 
directly  into  the  visual  orb  of  the  mind  ;  a  light  for  all  that 
live  ;  a  full,  transparent  day,  in  which  truth  bathes  the  spirit  as 
an  element  ?  Others  talk  and  speculate  about  truth,  and  those 
who  can  may  follow ;  but  Jesus  is  the  truth,  and  lives  it,  and, 
if  he  is  a  mere  human  teacher,  he  is  the  first  who  was  ever 
able  to  find  a  form  for  truth  at  all  adequate  to  the  world's 
uses.  And  yet  the  truths  he  teaches  outreach  all  the  doc- 
trines of  all  the  philosophers  of  the  world.  He  excels  them 
a  hundred-fold  more  in  the  scope  and  grandeur  of  his 
doctrine  than  he  does  in  his  simplicity  itself. 

It  is  a  high  distinction  of  Christ's  character,  as  seen  in 
his  teaching,  that  he  is  never  anxious  for  the  success  of  his 
doctrine.  Fully  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  world  is  against 
him,  scoffed  at,  hated,  despised,  alone,  too,  in  his  course,  and 
without  partisans  that  have  any  public  influence,  no  man  has 
ever  been  able  to  detect  in  him  the  least  anxiety  for  the  suc- 
cess of  his  doctrine.  He  is  never  jealous  of  contradiction. 
When  his  friends  display  their  dulness  and  incapacity,  or  even 
when  they  forsake  him,  he  is  never  ruffled  or  disturbed.  He 
rests  on  his  words  with  a  composure  as  majestic  as  if  he  were 
sitting  on  the  circle  of  the  heavens.     What  human  teacher, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  221 

what  great  philosopher,  has  not  shown  some  traces  of  anxiety 
for  his  school,  that  indicated  his  weakness  ?  some  pride  in  his 
friends,  some  dislike  of  his  enemies,  some  traces  of  wounded 
ambition  when  disputed  and  denied  ?  But  here  is  a  lone 
man,  a  humble,  uneducated  man,  never  schooled  into  the 
elegant  fiction  of  an  assumed  composure,  or  practised  in 
the  conventional  dignities  of  manner ;  and  yet,  finding  all  the 
world  against  him,  the  world  does  not  rest  on  its  axle  more 
firmly  than  he  upon  his  doctrine.  Questioned  by  Pilate  what 
he  means  by  truth,  it  is  enough  to  answer,  "  He  that  is  of 
the  truth  heareth  my  voice."  If  this  be  human,  no  other 
man  of  the  race,  -we  are  sure,  has  ever  dignified  humanity  by 
a  like  example.  .  .  . 

Such  is  Christ  as  a  teacher.  When  has  the  world  seen 
a  phenomenon  like  this? — a  lonely,  uninstructed  youth  coming 
forth  amid  the  moral  darkness  of  Galilee,  even  more  distinct 
from  his  age,  and  from  every  thing  around  him,  than  a  Plato 
would  be,  rising  up  alone  in  some  wild  tribe  in  Oregon ; 
assuming  thus  a  position  at  the  head  of  the  world,  and  main- 
taining it  for  eighteen  centuries  by  the  pure  self-evidence  of 
his  life  and  his  doctrine.  Does  he  this  by  the  force  of  mere 
human  talent  or  genius  ?  If  so,  it  is  time  we  begin  to  look 
to  genius  for  miracles,  for  there  is  really  no  greater  miracle. 
We  have  seen  Jesus  unfolding  as  a  flower  from  the  germ  of 
a  perfect  youth  ;  growing  up  to  enter  into  great  scenes,  and 
have  his  part  in  great  trials ;  harmonious  in  all  with  himself 
and  truth,  a  miracle  of  celestial  beauty.  He  is  a  lamb  in 
innocence,  a  God  in  dignity,  revealing  an  impenitent  but 
faultless  piety,  such  as  no  mortal  ever  attempted,  such  as  to 
the  highest  is  inherently  impossible. 

He  advances  the  most  extravagant  pretensions  without 
any  show  of  conceit,  or  even  seeming  fault  of  modesty.  He 
suffers  without  affectation  of  composure,  and  without  restraint 
of  pride  ;  suffers  as  no  mortal  sensibility  can,  where,  to  mortal 
view,  there  was  no  reason  for  pain  at  all ;  giving  us  not  only 
an  example  of  gentleness  and  patience  in  all  the  small  trials 


222  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

of  life,  but  revealing  the  depths  even  of  the  passive  virtues  of 
God  in  the  agony  and  the  patience  of  his  suffering  love. 
He  undertakes  also  a  plan,  universal  in  extent,  perpetual  in 
time ;  viz.,  to  unite  all  nations  in  a  kingdom  of  righteousness 
under  God,  laying  his  foundations  in  the  hearts  of  the  poor, 
as  no  great  teacher  ever  had  done  before,  and  yet  without 
creating  a  faction  or  stirring  one  partisan  feeling  in  his  fol- 
lowers. 

In  his  teachings  he  is  perfectly  original,  distinct  from  his 
age  and  from  all  ages;  never' warped  by  the  expectations 
of  his  friends ;  always  in  a  balance  of  truth,  swayed  by  no 
excesses,  running  to  no  oppositions  or  extremes  ;  clear  of  all 
superstition,  and  equally  clear  of  all  liberalism  ;  presenting 
the  highest  doctrines  in  the  lowest  and  simplest  forms  ;  estab- 
lishing a  pure,  universal  morality  never  before  established ; 
and  with  all  his  intense  devotion  to  the  truth,  never  anxious, 
perceptibly,  for  the  success  of  his  doctrine.  Finally,  to  sum 
up  all  in  one,  he  grows  more  great  and  wise  and  sacred,  the 
more  he  is  known,  —  needs,  in  fact,  to  be  known  to  have  his 
perfections  seen.     And  this,  we  say,  is  Jesus  the  Christ.   .  .  . 

This  one  perfect  character  has  come  into  our  world,  and 
lived  in  it,  filling  all  the  moulds  of  action,  all  the  terms  of 
duty  and  love,  with  his  own  Divine  manners,  works,  and 
charities.  All  the  conditions  of  our  life  are  raised,  thus,  by 
the  meanino-  he  has  shown  to  be  in  them,  and  the  crrace  he 
has  put  upon  them.  The  world  itself  is  changed,  and  is  no 
more  the  same  that  it  was :  it  has  never  been  the  same  since 
Jesus  left  it.  The  air  is  charged  with  heavenly  odors ;  and 
a  kind  of  celestial  consciousness,  a  sense  of  other  worlds,  is 
wafted  on  us  in  its  breath. 

Let  the  dark  ages  come  ;  let  society  roll  backward,  and 
churches  perish  in  whole  regions  of  the  earth  ;  let  infidelity 
deny,  and,  what  is  worse,  let  spurious  piety  dishonor,  the 
truth:  still  there  is  a  something  here  that  was  not,  and  a  some- 
thing that  has  immortality  in  it.  Still  our  confidence  remains 
unshaken,  that  Christ  and  his  all-quickening  life  are  in  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  223 

world  as  fixed  elements,  and  will  be  to  the  end  of  time  ;  for 
Christianity  is  not  so  much  the  advent  of  a  better  doctrine,  as 
of  a  perfect  character.  And  how  can  a  perfect  character  once 
entered  into  life  and  history  be  separated  and  finally  expelled  ? 
It  were  easier  to  untwist  all  the  beams  of  light  in  the  sky, 
separating  and  expunging  one  of  the  colors,  than  to  get  the 
character  of  Jesus,  which  is  the  real  Gospel,  out  of  the  world. 


HENRY    ROGERS. 

[Defence  of  "The  Eclipse  of  Faith."    Boston:  1854.    Pp.  142,  145.] 

The  brightness  of  the  brightest  names  pales  and  wanes 
before  the  radiance  which  shines  from  the  person  of  Christ. 
The  scenes  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  at  the  gate  of  Nain,  in 
the  happy  family  at  Bethany,  in  the  "  upper  room  "  wdiere  he 
instituted  the  beautiful  feast  which  should  forever  consecrate 
his  memory,  and  bequeathed  to  his  disciples  the  legacy  of  his 
love ;  the  scenes  of  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane,  on  the  sum- 
mit of  Calvary,  and  at  the  sepulchre  ;  the  sweet  remembrance 
of  the  patience  with  which  he  bore  wrong,  the  gentleness 
with  which  he  rebuked  it,  and  the  love  with  which  he  forgave 
it ;  the  thousand  acts  of  benign  condescension  by  which  he 
well  earned  for  himself,  from  self-righteous  pride  and  censo- 
rious hypocrisy,  the  name  of  "  the  friend  of  publicans  and 
sinners,"  —  these,  and  a  hundred  things  more  which  crowd 
those  concise  memorials  of  love  and  sorrow  with  such  prodi- 
gality of  beauty  and  of  pathos,  will  still  continue  to  charm 
and  attract  the  soul  of  humanity ;  and  on  these  the  highest 
genius,  as  well  as  the  humblest  mediocrity,  will  love  to  dwell. 
These  things  lisping  infancy  loves  to  hear  on  its  mother's 
knees ;  and  over  them  age,  with  its  gray  locks,  bends  in 
devoutest  reverence. 

No,  before  the  infidel  can  prevent  the  influence  of  these 
compositions,  he  must  get  rid  of  the  Gospels  themselves,  or 
he  must  supplement  them   by  fictions    still   more  wonderful. 


2  24  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Ah,  what  bitter  irony  has  involuntarily  escaped  me !  But  if 
the  last  be  impossible,  at  least  the  Gospels  must  cease  to 
exist  before  infidelity  can  succeed.  Yes,  before  infidels  can 
prevent  men  from  thinking  as  they  ever  have  done  of  Christ, 
they  must  blot  out  the  gentle  words  with  which,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  austere  hypocrisy,  the  Saviour  welcomed  that  timid 
guilt  that  could  only  express  its  silent  love  in  an  agony  of 
tears  ;  they  must  blot  out  the  words  addressed  to  the  dying 
penitent,  who,  softened  by  the  majestic  patience  of  the  mighty 
Sufferer,  detected  at  last  the  Monarch  under  the  veil  of  sorrow, 
and  cast  an  imploring  glance  to  be  remembered  by  him  when 
he  came  into  his  kingdom ;  they  must  blot  out  the  scene  in 
which  the  demoniacs  —  or  the  maniacs,  if  the  infidel  will,  for 
it  does  not  help  him  —  sat  listening  at  his  feet,  and  in  their 
right  mind  ;  they  must  blot  out  the  remembrance  of  the  tears 
which  he  shed  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  not  surely  for  him 
whom  he  was  about  to  raise,  but  in  pure  sympathy  with  the 
sorrows  of  humanity,  for  the  myriad  myriads  of  desolate 
mourners  who  could  not,  with  Mary,  fly  to  him  and  say, 
"  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  mother,  brother,  sister, 
had  not  died;"  they  must  blot  out  the  record  of  those  miracles 
which  charm  us,  not  only  as  the  proofs  of  his  mission,  and 
guaranties  of  the  truth  of  his  doctrine,  but  as  they  illustrate 
the  benevolence  of  his  character,  and  are  types  of  the  spirit- 
ual cures  his  Gospel  can  yet  perform  ;  they  must  blot  out 
the  scenes  of  the  sepulchre,  where  love  and  veneration  lin- 
gered, and  saw  what  was  never  seen  before,  but  shall  hence- 
forth be  seen  till  the  end  of  time,  —  the  tomb  itself  irradiated 
with  angelic  forms,  and  bright  with  the  presence  of  him  who 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light ;  they  must  blot  out  the 
scene  where  deep  and  grateful  love  wept  so  passionately,  and 
found  him  unbidden  at  her  side,  type  of  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand,  who  have  "  sought  the  grave  to  weep  there," 
and  found  joy  and  consolation  in  him  "  whom,  though  unseen, 
they  loved;"  tlu^y  must  blot  out  the  discourses  in  which  he 
took  leave  of  his  disciples,  the  majestic  accents  of  which  have 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  225 

filled  so  many  departing  souls  widi  patience  and  with  triumph; 
they  must  blot  out  the  yet  sublimer  words  in  which  he  declares 
himself  "  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life,"  —  words  which  have 
led  so  many  millions  more  to  breathe  out  their  spirits  with 
childlike  trust,  and  to  believe,  as  the  ea-te  of  death  closed 
behind  him,  they  would  see  him  who  is  invested  with  the 
"  keys  of  the  invisible  world,"  who  "  opens,  and  no  man  shuts  ; 
and  shuts,  and  no  man  opens,"  letting  in  through  the  portal 
which  leads  to  immortality  the  radiance  of  the  skies.  They 
must  blot  out,  they  must  destroy,  these  and  a  thousand  other 
such  things,  before  they  can  prevent  him  from  having  the 
pre-eminence  who  loved,  because  he  loved  us,  to  call  himself 
the  "  Son  of  man,"  though  angels  called  him  "  Son  of  God." 


ALEXANDER    MACLAREN. 

[Sermoxs.     London:   1873.     Pp.  178,  1S2,  1S3.] 

Christ  is  the  power  to  conform  us  to  himself,  as  well  as 
the  pattern  of  what  we  may  become.  He  and  none  lower,  he 
and  none  beside,  is  the  pattern  man.  Not  the  great  conqueror, 
nor  the  great  statesman,  nor  the  great  thinker ;  but  the  great 
lover,  the  perfectly  good  —  is  the  man  God  meant  him  to  be. 
We  may  affirm  that  the  noblest  and  fairest  characters,  approx- 
imating as  they  may  to  the  picture  in  the  Psalm  (viii.),  and 
giving  us  some  reason  to  hope  that  more  is  possible  for  us 
than  we  sometimes  think,  are  after  all  but  fragments  of 
precious  stones  as  compared  w^ith  that  one  entire  and  perfect 
chrysolite,  whose  unflawed  beauty  and  completeness  flashes 
forth  in  Christ  the  w^hole  light  of  God. 

Yet  he  is  not  ashamed  to  call  us  brethren.  Therefore,  if 
we  would  know  what  a  man  is,  and  what  a  man  may  become, 
let  us  not  only  look  inward  to  our  own  faults,  nor  around  us 
at  these  broken  bits  of  goodness;  but  let  us  look  back  to 
Christ,  and  be  of  good  cheer.  .   .  . 

The  sovereignty  of  Jesus  Christ  is  not  a  metaphor,  nor  a 


226  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

rhetorical  hyperbole.  It  is,  if  we  believe  the  New-Testament 
writers,  a  literal  prose  fact.  He  directs  the  histor)^  of  the 
world,  and  presides  among  the  nations.  He  is  prince  of  all 
the  kings  of  the  earth.  He  wields  the  forces  of  nature,  he 
directs  the  march  of  providence,  he  is  Lord  of  the  unseen 
world,  and  holds  the  keys  of  death  and  the  grave. 


JAMES    McCOSH. 

[Christianity  axd  Positivism.     New  York  :  1871.     Pp.  278,  279.] 

The  Memorabilia  of  Xenophon,  with  its  lessons  of 
Socrates,  the  Dialogues  of  Plato,  the  logical  and  metaphysi- 
cal works  of  Aristotle,  and  the  moral  maxims  of  the  Stoics, 
particularly  the  Meditations  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  are  about 
the  highest  products  of  human  intellect  in  ancient  times,  and 
are  worthy  the  eager  study  of  any  educated  man.  But  how 
different  from  the  discourses  of  Jesus,  both  in  their  subjects 
and  their  manner  of  teaching-  them  !   .   .  . 

We  recall  many  able  reasoners,  many  eloquent  orators,  in 
ancient  and  modern  times,  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome, 
in  modern  Europe  and  America ;  but  here  is  one  who  is  differ- 
ent from  them  all,  and  who  speaks  as  never  man  spake.  The 
truth  is  so  perspicuous  and  so  profound,  that  we  are  sure  it 
is  uttered  from  the  clear  depths  of  heaven ;  and  yet,  as 
it  comes  to  us,  and  penetrates  us,  we  feel  that  it  has  come 
through  one  who  is  on  the  earth,  who  knows  what  is  in  man, 
who  knoweth  our  frame,  and  remembereth  that  we  are  dust ; 
we  feel  that  it  is  addressed  to  us  by  a  fellow-man,  by  a  brother, 
it  so  touches  and  melts  and  moves  our  hearts. 

The  discourses  of  men  of  profound  thought  have  com- 
monly tended  to  drive  away  little  chiklren  ;  but  the  words  of 
Jesus,  as  it  were,  say,  "  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me, 
and  forbid  them  not."  Plato  and  the  Greek  philosophers  spoke 
and  wrote  only  for  the  educated,  and  never  thought  of  addres- 
sing the  great  mass  of  the  people,  who  were,  in  fact,  despised 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  227 

by  them.  But  the  prediction  regarding  Jesus  was,  not  only 
that  he  would  open  the  eyes  of  the  blind,  but  by  him  the  poor 
were  to  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them  ;  and  it  was 
found,  in  fact,  that  "  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly." 
This  constituted  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  the  world,  as  it 
was  the  means  of  raising  the  great  mass  of  the  people. 
While  a  child,  a  savage,  can  understand  and  appreciate  our 
Lord's  discourses,  the  profoundest  thinkers  are  made  to  feel 
that  there  are  depths  there  deeper  than  hell,  which  they  can- 
not fathom  ;  heights  higher  than  heaven,  which  they  cannot 
gauge.  We  feel  as  we  do  when  we  gaze  into  the  expanse  of 
heaven  on  a  clear  night,  and  see  every  star  shining  so  dis- 
tinctly, and  yet  are  made  to  realize  that  there  are  depths  there 
far  beyond  our  vision. 


JOHN    GORHAM    PALFREY. 

(Lowell  Lectures  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity.    Boston :  1S43.    ^^^-  '•  PP- 
182,  185,  192,  197,  222-227,  230.] 

Never  was  a  more  unvarnished  tale  delivered  than  that  of 
the  Four  Evangelists.  If  ever  there  were  marks  of  simple 
honesty  impressed  on  any  composition,  there  do  they  most 
conspicuously  stand.  No  one  can  imagine,  as  he  reads,  that 
the  idea  had  ever  entered  their  minds,  of  dressing  up  the 
story  which  they  had  to  tell,  so  as  to  make  it  appear  in  its 
most  unexceptionable  form.  They  never  study  indefiniteness 
of  expression,  nor  appear  afraid  to  descend  into  particulars, 
as  false  witnesses  are  apt  to  do,  lest  they  should  furnish  the 
means  of  their  own  confutation  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  they 
abound  in  particulars,  opening  infinite  opportunities  of  detec- 
tion, provided  there  was  any  thing  to  detect.  It  is  very 
remarkable  in  how  perfectly  simple,  concise,  unadorned  a 
manner  they  relate  the  stupendous  miracles  of  their  Master, 
neither  preparing  the  way  by  advertising  the  reader  before- 
hand that  he  is  going  to  be  informed  of  something  wonderful, 


228  TESTIMOXY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

nor  conciliating-  incredulity  by  arguments  or  asseverations  or 
references  to  others  who  might  confirm  their  narrative,  nor 
stopping  to  draw  some  inference,  or  to  deepen  the  impression 
before  they  pass  on  to  something  else  ;  but  simply  saying 
what  they  have  to  say  in  the  most  quiet  and  unpretending 
plainness  of  truth,  as  one  might  be  expected  to  do  who  was 
concerning  himself  about  nothing  except  his  own  business  of 
bearing  an  honest  testimony,  who  did  not  perplex  himself  by 
anticipating  unbelief,  or  calculating  in  any  way  the  impression 
which  might  be  made  upon  other  minds.   .   .  . 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  impression  of  candor  and  fair- 
ness in  the  Evangelists,  gathered  from  the  whole  tone  of  their 
narrative,  is  capable  of  being  increased  by  reference  to  any 
examples.  .  .  .  How  candidly  have  they  related  their  own 
errors  and  faults  and  those  of  their  associates  !  How  freely 
have  they  acquainted  posterity  with  that  dulness  of  theirs, 
which  resisted  so  long  the  patient  instructions  of  Jesus  con- 
cerning the  spiritual  nature  of  his  kingdom ! 

They  tell  us  of  the  incredulity  of  Thomas;  of  the  ambitious 
project  of  James  and  John  to  secure  to  themselves  the  places 
of  honor  when  their  Master  should  ascend  the  proud  throne 
which  their  imaginations  promised  him ;  of  the  unbecoming 
resentment  of  the  same  disciple  when  the  company  was  refused 
admittance  to  a  Samaritan  village,  and  the  peremptory  faith- 
fulness with  which  it  was  rebuked;  of  Peter's  unworthy  remon- 
strance with  Jesus  when  he  spoke  of  his  impending  suft'erings, 
and  the  vehement  reproof  called  forth  by  his  self-seeking 
weakness ;  of  the  same  disciple's  reiterated  denial  of  his 
Master  ;  and  of  all  the  disciples  forsaking  him  and  lleeing, 
when,  already  in  the  hands  of  his  remorseless  enemies,  he 
was  about  to  be  led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter.  I  have  here, 
of  course,  no  other  concern  with  texts  of  this  description  than 
to  inquire  whether  they  are  easily  to  be  reconciled  with  any 
view  of  their  author's  character,  except  that  which  regards 
them  as  fair  and  honest  witnesses,  who  meant  to  tell  the  truth, 
whatever  inference  might  be  drawn  from  it. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  229 

Men  who  enter  into  a  combination  for  imposture  undertake 
a  great  deal  of  trouble.  To  carry  on  a  scheme  of  deception 
alone  —  a  scheme  which  requires  no  confidant  —  is  a  very  hard 
task ;  to  carry  on  such  a  scheme  in  partnership  with  others, 
on  whose  fidelity,  prudence,  and  recourse  one  is  not  absolutely 
sure  how  far  he  can  count,  is  an  excessively  anxious  and 
heart-wearing  one.  Such  schemes  are  undertaken.  But, 
when  they  are,  it  is  in  consideration  of  something  which  will 
pay  the  heavy  cost.  There  must  be  some  strong  moving- 
power  to  set  this  reluctant  machinery  in  operation.  Nothing 
can  be  more  certain  than  that  men  do  not  devote  themselves 
to  any  toilsome  and  annoying  service,  except  in  the  hope  of 
something  which  to  their  minds,  whether  rightly  or  wrongly 
judging,  appears «,  sufficient  recompense.  The  first  preachers 
of  our  religion  were,  of  course,  influenced  to  what  they  did 
by  some  motive.  If  theirs  was  a  fraudulent  enterprise,  then 
their  motive  was  worldly,  then  they  expected  their  reward 
in  this  life ;  for  men  do  not  promise  themselves  the  least 
reward  in  the  other  for  the  most  indefatiQfable  labors  of 
dishonesty.  Will  any  one  point  out  what  valuable  worldly 
consideration  they  obtained,  or  expected  to  obtain,  for  what 
they  did  ? 

Dishonest  effort  implies  the  hope  of  some  selfish  advan- 
tage. Effort,  accompanied  by  the  abandonment  of  every 
selfish  advantage,  contradicts  the  supposition  of  dishonesty. 
Men  do  not  make  sacrifices,  except  in  the  hope  of  eventual 
gain,  or  from  a  sense  of  duty.  But  the  early  preachers  of 
our  religion  made  the  most  unsparing  sacrifices.  They  devoted 
themselves  to  labors,  they  exposed  themselves  to  dangers, 
they  underwent  hardships,  they  endured  sufferings,  such  as 
it  is  not  in  human  nature  voluntarily  to  consent  to  in  the 
maintenance  of  an  unprofitable  falsehood.  .  .  . 

In  all,  except  confirmation  of  those  fundamental  religious 
truths  which  Judaism  had  taught,  scarcely  would  it  have  been 
possible  for  the  tone  of  Christianity  to  be  more  opposed  than 
it  was  to  the  tone  of  Jewish  thought  and  feeling  in  the  age 


230  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

when  it  appeared.  He  who  will  reject  the  miracle  of  Chris- 
tianity having  been  sent  from  God  only  chooses,  in  its  stead, 
the  miracle,  not  less  amazing,  —  but,  on  the  contrary,  far  more 
so,  since  there  would  not  be  the  same  adequate  causes  to 
account  for  the  latter,  —  of  Christianity  having  been  born,  full 
formed  and  armed,  from  the  bosom  of  a  society  most  alien  to 
it  in  its  principles  and  practices.  What  a  conception  is  that 
of  the  universal  parental  providence  of  God,  that  the  Being  of 
infinite  miorht  has  a  Father's  care  and  tenderness  for  all  men  ! 
What  a  vast  conception  to  enter,  unsent,  any  human  mind  ! 
What  an  unheard-of  conception  till  Christianity  made  it  famil- 
iar !  But  that  is  not  our  point.  What  an  impossible  concep- 
tion to  form  itself  in  the  breast  of  any  Jew,  of  one  of  a  face 
whose  great  pride  and  joy  were  in  a  rigid  and  exclusive  inter- 
pretation of  the  assurance  that  God  was  the  father  of  Abraham, 
Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  of  their  posterity,  who  nauseated  the 
idea  that  the  Divine  favor  could  be  extended  to  a  descendant 
from  any  other  stock,  except  he  should  first  do  homage  to  the 
ritual  of  Moses,  which  would,  at  the  same  time,  humble  his 
own  pride,  and  bring  a  contribution  to  the  pride  of  those  with 
whom  he  sought  to  be  associated  ! 

How  precise,  formal,  technical,  unspiritual,  mean,  are  the 
notions  of  religious  duty  which  Christianity  found  at  the  time 
and  place  of  its  origin  !  The  widened  phylactery,  the  enlarged 
fringe  of  the  garment,  — these  passed  for  acts  of  acceptable 
devotion.  Widows'  houses  might  be  devoured,  provided  the 
length  of  prayers  did  but  exceed;  and  the  very  doctors  said 
that  "  whoso  sweareth  by  the  temple,  it  is  nothing  ;  but  whoso 
sweareth  by  the  gold  of  the  temple,  he  is  a  debtor ; "  and  that, 
if  a  man  will  but  say  of  his  property,  "  It  is  Corban','  or  a 
consecrated  gift,  he  is  dispensed  from  providing  with  it  iox  his 
father  or  his  mother.  What  a  heart-religion,  on  the  contrary, 
—  how  jnirc,  how  spiritual,  exalted,  internal,  and  superior  to 
all  HK.'re  formalities,  —  did  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  enjoin  and 
inspire ! 

In  the  principles  and  practices  of  the  narrow-minded,  not 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  23 1 

to  say  exasperated  and  vindictive,  inhabitants  of  Palestine  in 
the  first  century,  irrespective  of  any  goodness  which  was  not 
formed  on  their  own  ungraceful  model,  incensed  against  all 
the  heathen  by  whom  they  had  been  successively  oppressed, 
where  do  we  see  any  elements  of  the  expansive,  all-compre- 
hending philanthropy  of  that  religion  which  taught  us  to  do 
to  others  as  we  would  that  they  should  do  to  us,  and  which, 
in  expounding  the  precept  to  love  one's  neighbor  as  one's 
self,  made  the  word  "neighbor"  to  stand  for  every  human 
being  whom  one  could  find  or  make  opportunity  to  serve  ? 
In  the  mind  of  the  often  down-trodden,  but  only  for  that  more 
indignant  and  fancy-fevered  Jew,  burning  with  the  accumulated 
heats  of  hope  long  deferred,  for  the  raising  of  that  standard 
which  was  to  roll  back  the  bloody  tide  of  conquest  upon 
doomed  and  quaking  Rome,  where  do  we  descry  the  germ  of 
the  grand  thought  of  peace  on  earth  and  universal  good-will 
among  men  ?  .  .  . 

Where,  in  the  popular  code  of  morality  of  the  age  of 
Herod  and  Caiaphas,  where,  in  the  discipline  of  the  Pharisaic 
and  Sadducean  schools,  do  we  find  any,  the  faintest  rudiments 
of  that  system,  which  so  carefully  and  urgently  enjoins  internal 
purity,  and  the  practice  of  meekness,  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
patience,  humility,  self-denial,  and  all  the  excellent  brotherhood 
of  the  passive  virtues  ?  No ;  manifestly  as  well  might  one 
expect  to  gather  grapes  of  thorns,  or  figs  of  thistles,  as  sup- 
pose that  Jewish  minds,  in  the  age  when  Christianity  appeared, 
could,  under  any  impulse  or  fraudulent  design,  or  honest 
delusive  excitement,  have  matured  such  fruit  as  we  gather  in 
the  Gospels ;  that  they  could  possibly  have  originated  it  at 
all  ;  that  they  possibly  could  have  come  into  a  condition  to 
communicate  it  to  us,  as  they  have  done,  except  through  a 
previous  supernatural  communication  of  it  to  themselves. 
The  efi"ect,  certainly  known  to  us,  was  one  so  certainly  out 
of  proportion  and  congruity  with  all  natural  causes  as  abso- 
lutely to  demand  the  assignment  of  a  supernatural  cause  for 
its  production. 


232  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

The  same  is  true  in  respect  to  the  conception  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  Author  of  the  faith.  Here  is  an  example  of  moral 
sublimity  and  perfection  in  a  human  form,  and  composed  of 
human  attributes,  which,  after  a  lapse  of  ages,  remains  unpar- 
alleled and  unapproached.  .  .  . 

At  the  time  of  the  revelation  of  Christianity,  this  concep- 
tion came  to  be  entertained.  We  know  that  it  did  so,  because 
we  have  the  portraitures  of  it,  descended  from  that  age  before 
us.  The  portraiture  is  there,  that  we  know ;  for  we  can  look 
at  it.  The  conception  was  present  to  the  minds  which  drew 
the  portraiture:  that  is  a  point  which  needs  no  proving.  How 
came  it  there  ?  The  Evangelists  give  us  their  answer  to  this 
question.     They  say  they  drew  from  a  living  original. 

The  expansiveness  of  the  benevolence  of  Jesus,  overleap- 
ing the  much-regarded  barriers  of  kindred,  sect,  neighborhood, 
and  country,  its  delicacy  and  tenderness  so  contrasted  with 
the  hardened  and  coarse  sternness  of  the  age,  shining  out, 
as  it  does  sometimes,  with  its  mild  grace  through  the  most 
majestic  displays  of  his  power ;  the  perfection  of  the  same 
quality  shown  by  him  in  his  superiority  to  the  sense  of  injury; 
his  respect  for  the  rights,  and  his  sense  of  the  greatness,  of 
the  human  soul,  lodged  in  however  mean  and  even  polluted 
a  tenement ;  his  sublime  spirit  of  self-consecration  and  self- 
sacrifice;  the  far-reaching  of  his  views  into  futurity,  and  of  his 
conviction  of  the  coming  triumphs  of  truth  over  error,  and 
of  good  over  evil :  which  of  these  was  borrowed  from  the 
tone  of  sentiment  of  the  age  ?  For  which  of  them  were 
the  Evangelists  indebted  to  any  thing  they  saw  around  them, 
or  that  had  come  to  them  through  any  common  channels  of 
thought  ?  And  if  each  novel  trait  in  this  conception  is  so 
hard  to  trace  to  any  human  source,  how  much  harder  to  trace 
so  many  !  And  yet  more,  —  for  the  combination  is  still  quite 
different  from  a  mere  aggregate  of  the  several  ingredients,  — 
from  what  source,  not  supernatural,  came  the  image  of  such 
qualities,  combiiuxl  in  one  whole  of  such  perfect  symmetry? 

The  conception   of  tlie  character  of  Jesus  .   .   .  could  not 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  233 

have  been  an  imagination  of  those  who  have  depicted  it,  but 
must  have  had  a  hving  prototype,  and  that,  too,  of  super- 
natural formation,  since  the  natural  influences  in  action  could 
no  more  have  formed  the  character  than  they  could  have 
sueorested  the  idea. 

It  may,  perhaps,  be  worth  while  to  add,  in  a  word,  to  my 
remark  on  the  last  topic,  that  they  who  had  opportunity  for 
the  contemplation  of  such  a  character  must,  by  that  contem- 
plation, have  been  raised  equally  above  the  temptation  to 
fraud,  and  the  susceptibility  of  any  enthusiastic  delusions ; 
from  which  considerations  we  obtain  yet  another  confirmation 
of  their  credit  in  regard  to  particulars  of  their  story.  .   .  . 

We  have  the  portraiture  of  Jesus,  not  from  one  hand  only, 
but  from  four.  This  character,  so  original,  so  unprecedented, 
necessarily  destined,  from  the  peculiarities  of  its  attributes,  to 
manifest  itself  in  forms  of  action  such  as  the  world  had  not 
seen  and  was  little  prepared  to  guess  at,  so  unmanageable, 
therefore,  In  the  hands  of  one  writer  of  fiction,  is  described  — 
I  was  about  to  say;  but,  no,  it  is  not  described,  it  is  set  before 
us  in  action  —  by  four  different  persons,  in  a  very  artless  style 
of  writing,  but  with  a  vividness  and  consistency  which,  had 
it  been  the  product  of  art  at  all,  would  have  been  a  specimen 
of  miraculous  perfection  of  art.  They  represent  him  to  us  in 
a  great  variety  of  situations,  involving  a  large  part  of  the 
diversified  experience  of  human  life.  They  represent  him  as 
discoursing  upon  a  great  variety  of  topics.  Yet,  between  all 
these  representations,  there  is  a  perfect,  unbroken,  vigorous, 
lifelike  unity.  There  is  not  a  touch  of  these  untutored  men 
that  mars  the  verisimilitude  of  the  drawing.  I  should  rather 
say  there  is  not  a  touch  of  either,  laboring  as  they  did  upon 
separate  resemblances,  which  is  out  of  harmony  with  any  part 
of  the  work  of  the  rest.  Such  a  fact  admits  of  only  one  solu- 
tion. If  it  had  been  possible  (which  it  was  not)  that  such  a 
novel  and  magnificent  fiction  should  have  been  conceived  by 
one,  still  It  was  not  possible  that  such  a  complicated  fiction 
should  have  been  conceived  consistently  by  all. 


234  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

JOSEPH    PARKER. 

[EcCE  Df.us.     Boston:   1873.     Pp.  164,  165,  372,  373.] 

Jesus  Christ,  immeasurably  above  any  other  teacher, 
recognized  the  greatness  of  human  nature.  How  did  he 
come  by  this  unparalleled  estimate  ?  Certainly  he  had  no 
inducement  to  flatter  it  in  return  for  his  personal  reception 
on  the  earth.  Sometimes  pleasant  circumstances  force  weak 
observers  into  an  exaggeration  of  praise  ;  but  in  spite  of  the 
harshest  reception,  Christ  affirmed  that  God  so  loved  the 
world,  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son  for  its  salvation. 
His  verdict  is  thus  the  more  important  by  reason  of  the 
conditions  under  which  it  was  given.  Had  he  been  asked  to 
give  an  opinion  of  human  nature  before  he  assumed  it,  his 
opinion  might,  on  easily  understood  grounds,  have  been 
favorable  ;  but  after  he  has  lain  in  the  manger,  been  exposed 
to  hunger  and  thirst  and  cold,  been  smitten  on  the  face,  and 
condemned  as  a  felon,  when  he  has  been  laughed  at  as  a 
fanatic,  or  shunned  as  a  madman,  he  speaks  of  human  nature 
with  the  fond  tenderness  and  lofty  reverence  of  one  who  was 
preparing  to  die  for  it,  something  more  than  human  must 
explain  the  humanness.  Every  other  man  falls  short  of  it  : 
how  came  a  Galilaean  peasant  to  have  it  all  ?  It  is  an  affront 
to  common  sense,  to  say  that  it  is  an  imaginary  sketch  ;  but 
even  if  it  be,  what  then  ?  The  problem  is  not  solved  ;  for, 
as  only  a  poet  can  write  a  poem,  so  only  a  Christ  could  have 
conceived  a  Christ. 

lo-day  the  great  question  that  is  stirring  men's  hearts  to 
their  depths  Is,  Who  is  this  Jesus  Christ?  His  life  is  becom- 
ing to  us  a  new  life,  as  if  we  had  never  seen  a  word  of  it. 
1  li(M-e  is  round  about  us  an  influence  so  strange,  so  penetrat- 
ing, so  siibiilc,  y(;t  so  mighty,  that  we  are  obliged  to  ask  the 
great  heaving  world  of  time  to  be  silent  for  a  while,  that  we 
may  see  just  what  we  are,  and  where  we  are.  That  influence 
is  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ.     We  cannot  get  clear  of  it ;   we 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  235 

hear  it  in  the  tones  of  joy ;  we  feel  it  steaHng  across  the 
darkness  of  sorrow  ;  we  see  it  where  we  least  expect  it.  Even 
men  who  have  travelled  farthest  from  it,  seem  only  to  have 
come  round  to  it  again.  And  while  they  have  been  under- 
valuing- the  inner  worth  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  have  actually 
been  livine  on  the  virtue  which  came  out  of  the  hem  of  his 
garment.  Yes,  it  seems  we  must  touch  him  either  at  the 
heart,  or  at  the  hem  ;  if  we  will  not  have  him  for  the  soul, 
we  must  have  him  for  the  body.  What  if  men  reject  him 
altogether?  Then,  as  of  old,  there  is  no  choice  for  them  but 
Barabbas,  and  Barabbas  is  still  a  robber.  .  We  see  the  alter- 
native. Pilate  still  puts  the  question,  "  Whom  will  ye  that  I 
release  unto  you,  Barabbas,  or  Jesus  which  is  called  Christ?" 
The  voice  of  the  people  was  once  for  the  robber ;  it  will  yet 
be  lifted  up,  never  more  to  change,  for  the  Son  of  God. 


JAMES   WALKER. 

[Reason,  Faith,  and  Dutv.     Boston:  1877.     Pp.  177-179.] 

The  only  true  greatness  is  greatness  of  sotil ;  and  the 
circumstances,  whatever  they  may  be,  which  have  the  effect 
to  display  the  highest  degree  of  this  greatness,  are  those 
which  vindicate  a  man's  claim  to  real  superiority. 

Let  history  tell  of  her  hero,  who,  in  the  day  of  his  triumph, 
bestrode  the  world  like  a  colossus,  and  was  worshipped  as  a 
eod  ;  but  when  a  reverse  came  on  his  fortunes,  and  he  was 
hurled  from  the  eminence  he  had  occupied,  where  then 
was  his  glor}/,  or  the  qualities  by  which  it  had  been  won  ? 

If  Jesus  Christ  had  merely  been  a  successful  adventurer 
or  a  mighty  conqueror,  —  another  Solomon  or  another  Judas 
Maccabaeus,  another  Alexander  or  Csesar,  —  his  ascendency 
might  easily  be  accounted  for  by  natural  causes.  But  when 
we  look  on  him  as  an  obscure  Galilsean,  educated  in  all  the 
prejudices  of  his  country,  unsustained  by  any  of  the  excite- 
ment or  illusions  which  do  so  much  to  bolster  up  the  vulgar 


236  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENI'URIES 

great,  betrayed  and  forsaken  by  the  few  he  had  counted  on  as 
friends,  left  alone,  absolutely  alone,  to  watch  the  gathering 
of  that  black  and  portentous  cloud  which  was  soon  to  break 
in  thunder  on  his  naked  head,  and  yet  with  a  soul  unshaken, 
unappalled,  —  well  indeed  may  we  exclaim  with  the  Roman 
centurion  who  witnessed  his  last  sufterings,  "  Truly  this  was 
the  Son  of  God." 

Jesus  Christ  might  have  been  great,  as  other  men  have 
been  great,  and  it  would  have  proved  notJiing ;  but  the  cir- 
cumstances of  extreme  trial  in  which  he  was  placed  afforded 
him  an  opportunity  for  displaying  a  greatness  to  which  there 
is  no  parallel,  —  a  greatness  not  more  remarkable  for  its 
degree  than  for  its  originality.  Every  mind  capable  of  pro- 
found thought  will  appreciate  this  argument  for  Christianity, 
because  the  entire  originality  of  our  Saviour's  character  makes 
it  as  much  a  miracle  that  the  Evangelists,  with  all  their  preju- 
dices, should  have  drawn  it  from  the  imagination,  as  that  the 
character  itself  should  have  really  existed  for  them  to  describe. 


EDWARD    HAYES    PLUMPTRE. 

[Christ  and  Christendom.     London:   1867.     Pp.  242,  243.] 

All  the  theology  of  which  the  Church  is  the  witness  and 
the  keeper,  runs  up  to  Christ's  teaching;  all  the  benevolence 
of  which  he  has  been  the  minister,  to  his  example  ;  all  her 
infinite  richness  and  variety  of  worship,  to  the  prayer  and  the 
supper  of  the  Lord.  May  we  not  recognize  in  this,  that  of 
which  the  history  of  mankind  may  present  distortions,  carica- 
tures, counterfeits,  but  to  which  it  certainly  offers  no  parallels? 

Can  the  marvellous  personality  which  has  thus  stamped 
its  impress  on  the  world's  history  be  resolved  into  the  creature 
of  the  after-thoughts  of  an  age  that  followed  it,  or  of  the 
confUuMice  of  the  thc^osophies  of  the  East  and  West  of  the  age 
that  went  before  it  ?  Can  we  exclude  the  personality  of  Christ 
from    the   order  of  the  aoes,  and   class  his  faith  as  but  one 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  237 

in  the  steps  which  lead  men  upward  from  brute  ignorance  to 
the  negation  of  God  ?  Can  we  accept,  admire,  and  adore  the 
personaHty,  and  yet  reject  the  claims  with  which  it  is  insep- 
arably associated,  and  without  which  it  would  have  been 
powerless  as  the  visions  of  a  dream,  ^  nullity  among  the 
elements  of  history  ? 


JAMES    W,    ALEXANDER. 

[Lectures  on  the  Evidences  of  Christianity.     New  York  :   1852.     P.  195  et  seqi\ 

In  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  as  presented  in  the  Christian 
Scriptures,  we  have  a  perfect  model  of  moral  excellence.  The 
founder  of  Christianity  stands  forth  in  a  character  absolutely 
original  and  unique.  The  attempt  was  never  made  to  trace 
it  to  any  foregoing  exemplar.  Neither  history  nor  fiction 
approached  to  any  thing  which  could  serve  even  as  the  germ 
of  such  a  description.  It  is  a  quality  to  which  justice  is 
seldom  done,  perhaps  from  an  extreme  familiarity  with  every 
trait  ;  but  it  was  doubtless  felt  by  the  great  inquirers  of 
antiquity  when  first  summoned  into  the  sublime  and  winning 
presence.  There  are  objects  in  nature,  which,  previous  to  all 
scrutiny  or  analysis,  strike  us  with  the  impression  :  This  is 
unlike  all  we  ever  beheld  before.  Such  is  the  august  person- 
ality of  Christ  while  as  yet  unstudied  in  its  more  delicate 
lineaments.  The  picture  is  intensely  and  sublimely  moral. 
With  a  reserve  almost  w^ithout  a  parallel,  there  is  not  a  touch 
or  a  color  thrown  in  to  gratify  what  might  be  considered  a 
reasonable  curiosity.  Hence  there  is  not  a  syllable  respecting 
the  outward  figure,  countenance,  or  demeanor  of  our  Lord. 
Even  the  intellectual  development  is  left  under  a  veil,  while 
the  moral  and  spiritual  representation  stands  out  with  all  the 
austere  simplicity  of  a  sculpture. 

Approaching  more  nearly,  we  perceive  that  the  character 
of  Jesus  is  not  such  as  would  be  produced  by  what  is  called 
the  spirit  of  the  age.     It  was  not  in   subjugated,  unlettered 


238  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Judaism,  to  give  birth  to  such  an  advent.  The  effect  is  too 
colossal  for  such  a  cause.  It  was  not  even  the  felicitous 
anticipation  of  an  age  about  to  dawn.  It  was  not  the  embod- 
ied genius  of  any  age.  The  ideal  is  one  which  no  age  of 
human  progress  has  yet  overtaken.  We  are  the  more  sur- 
prised and  confounded  when  we  see  its  matchless  proportions 
emerging  from  the  mists  and  corruptions  of  such  a  period  and 
such  a  nation.  I  will  go  further,  and  assert  that  the  character 
of  Jesus  Christ  is  one  which  would  have  been  beyond  the 
power  of  human  conception,  before  its  actual  appearance.  .  .  . 

The  pureness  of  his  character  was  known  to  the  people, 
rehearsed  by  the  wife  of  the  procurator,  asserted  with  reitera- 
tion by  Pilate,  avowed  by  the  Roman  centurion  who  stood 
guard  at  the  cross,  and  attested  by  the  traitor  when  he  cried 
in  the  temple,  "I  have  betrayed  the  innocent  blood."  The 
enemies  of  Christianity  have  been  too  discreet  to  allege  any 
blemish  on  the  snow-white  purity  of  Jesus.  His  virtue  is 
immaculate,  and  has  borne  the  inspection  of  the  ages.  This 
is  the  more  deserving  of  consideration,  when  we  reHect  that 
any  age  can  discern  spots  upon  a  surface  of  alabaster,  and  that 
one  undeniable  delinquency  in  the  character  of  our  Lord 
would  instantly  vacate  his  whole  claim  to  perfection.  But  it 
has  not  been  discovered  ;  and  it  has  been  by  an  association 
common  to  all  Christian  nations,  that  we  connect  with  this 
impersonation  of  innocency  the  symbols  of  the  lamb  and  the 
dove.  .  .  . 

Of  this  character,  then,  I  may  safely  say,  produce  any 
parallel  who  can.  If  the  literature  of  centuries  has  given  any 
equal  personification  of  wisdom  and  goodness,  let  it  be  made 
to  appear.  Even  with  this  model  before  the  eye  for  ages, 
what  approach  has  been  made  to  a  similar,  not  to  say  to  a 
superior,  ideal  ? 

The  character  of  Jesus  Christ  satisfies  every  demand  of 
our  moral  nature.  Important  as  external  testimony  is  in  its 
place  and  for  other  ends,  here  is  a  point  where  we  require 
no  external  testimony.     The  moral  glory  of  such  a  character 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  239 

shines  by  its  own  self-evidencing  light.  Here  there  is  an 
analogy  between  moral  conclusions  and  judgments  of  taste. 
Whatever  share  the  understanding  may  have  in  adjusting  and 
presenting  the  objects,  the  inward  faculty  judges  immediately. 
Whatever  the  beautiful  object  may  be,  a  rose,  a  Parthenon,  or 
a  faultless  human  countenance,  our  inward  approbation  is 
immediate.  Nor  are  our  moral  judgments  less  direct.  Here 
we  apply  not  bare  logic,  but  the  determinations  of  intuitive 
reason,  the  utterances  of  our  sublimest  instincts,  promptly  and 
unhesitatingly  accepting  a  given  character  as  good  or  evil. 

It  is  on  these  grounds  that  we  yield  our  love,  upon  the 
perception  of  excellence,  in  all  the  tenderest  relations  of  life. 
And  the  decision  is  all  the  stronger,  quicker,  and  less  fallible, 
in  proportion  to  the  exquisite  harmony  and  perfection  of  the 
object,  as  light  is  most  undeniable  in  the  effulgence  of  the  sun. 
The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  commands  our  assent,  and  overwhelms 
us  into  admiration.  Here  is  the  great  argument  which  has 
carried  the  citadel  of  a  thousand  unlettered  hearts,  while 
neither  they  nor  we  can  fully  translate  it  into  the  terms  of 
cold  logic. 

So  viewed,  the  representation  of  Christ  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  the  greatest  moral  lesson  ever  given  to  mankind, 
infinitely  surpassing  all  the  ratiocination  of  the  schools,  and 
all  the  systematized  precepts  of  ethics,  being  virtue  reduced 
to  the  form  of  tangible  action,  and  offered  to  us  with  the 
reality  of  life. 

THEODORE    PARKER. 

[Discourse  on  Religion.     New  York:   1S76  (fourth  edition).     Pp.  281,  285,  2S7,  343.] 

In  estimating  the  character  of  Jesus,  it  must  be  remembered 
that  he  died  at  an  age  when  a  man  has  not  reached  his  fullest 
vigor.  The  great  works  of  creative  intellect,  the  maturest 
products  of  man,  all  the  deep  and  settled  plans  of  reforming 
the  world,  come  from  a  period  when  experience  gives  a  wider 
field  as  the  basis  of  hope.     Socrates  was  but  an  embryo  sage 


240  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

till  long  after  the  age  of  Jesus.  Poems  and  philosophies  that 
live,  come  at  a  later  date.  Now,  here  we  see  a  young  man, 
but  little  more  than  thirty  years  old,  with  no  advantage  of 
position  ;  the  son  and  companion  of  rude  people  ;  born  in 
a  town  whose  inhabitants  were  wicked  to  a  proverb  ;  of  a 
nation,  above  all  others,  distinguished  for  their  superstition, 
for  national  pride,  exaltation  of  themselves,  and  contempt  for 
all  others;  in  an'  age  of  singular  corruption,  when  the  sub- 
stance of  religion  had  faded  out  from  the  minds  of  its  anointed 
ministers,  and  sin  had  spread  wide  among  a  people  turbulent. 
oppressed,  and  down-trodden  ;  a  man  ridiculed  for  his  lack 
of  knowledge,  in  this  nation  of  forms,  of  hypocritical  priests, 
and  corrupt  people,  falls  back  on  simple  morality,  simple 
religion,  unites  in  himself  the  sublimest  precepts  and  divinest 
practices,  thus  more  than  realizing  the  dream  of  prophets  and 
sages  ;  rises  free  from  so  many  prejudices  of  his  age,  nation, 
or  sect ;  gives  free  range  to  the  Spirit  of  God  in  his  breast ; 
sets  aside  the  law,  sacred  and  time-honored  as  it  was,  its 
forms,  its  sacrifice,  its  temple,  and  its  priests ;  puts  away  the 
doctors  of  the  law,  subtle,  learned,  irrefragable,  and  pours  out 
doctrines  beautiful  as  the  light,  sublime  as  heaven,  and  true 
as  God. 

That  mightiest  heart  that  ever  beat,  stirred  by  the  Spirit 
of  God,  how  it  wrought  in  his  bosom!  What  words  of  rebuke, 
of  comfort,  counsel,  admonition,  promise,  hope,  did  he  pour 
out !  words  that  stir  the  soul  as  summer  dews  call  up  the 
faint  and  sickly  grass.  What  profound  instruction  in  his 
proverbs  and  discourses!  what  wisdom  in  his  homely  sayings, 
so  rich  with  Jewish  life  !  what  deep  divinity  of  soul  in  liis 
prayers,  his  action,  sympathy,  resignation! 

Rarely,  almost  never,  do  we  see  the  vast  divinity  within 
that  soul,  which,  new  though  it  was  in  the  flesh,  at  one  step 
goes  before  the  world  whole  thousands  of  years ;  judges  the 
race  ;  decides  questions  for  us  we  dare  not  agitate  as  yet.  and 
breathes  the  very  breath  of  heavenly  love.  The  Christian 
world,  aghast  at  this  venerable  beauty  in  the  flesh,  transfixed 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  241 

with  wonder  as  such  a  spirit  rises  in  his  heavenly  flight,  veils 
its  face,  and  says,  "  It  is  a  God."  Such  thoughts  are  not  lor 
men  ;  the  life  betrays  the  Deity. 

Blessed  be  God  that  so  much  manliness  has  been  lived 
out,  and  stands  there  yet,  a  lasting  monument  to  mark  how 
hieh  the  tides  of  divine  life  have  risen  in  the  human  world  I 
It  bids  us  take  courage  and  be  glad  ;  for  what  man  has  done, 
he  may  do,  yea  more. 

Jesus,  there  is  no  dearer  name  than  thine, 

Which  Time  has  blazoned  on  his  mighty  scroll. 
No  wreaths  nor  garlands  ever  did  intwine 

So  fair  a  temple  of  so  vast  a  soul. 
There  every  virtue  sets  his  triumph-seal ; 

Wisdom  conjoined  with  strength  and  radiant  grace, 
In  a  sweet  copy  heaven  to  reveal, 

And  stamp  perfection  on  a  mortal  face. 
Once  on  the  earth  wert  thou,  before  men's  eyes. 

That  did  not  half  thy  beauteous  brightness  see ; 
E'en  as  the  emmet  does  not  read  the  skies. 

Nor  our  weak  orbs  look  through  immensity. 
Once  on  the  earth  wert  thou,  —  a  living  shrine. 
Wherein  conjoining  dwelt  the  good,  the  lovely,  the  divine. 

Here  was  the  greatest  soul  of  all  the  sons  of  men  ;  a  man 
of  genius  for  religion;  one  before  whom  the  majestic  mind  of 
Grecian  sages,  and  of  Hebrew  seers,  must  veil  its  face.  Try 
him  as  we  try  other  teachers.  They  deliver  their  word  ;  find 
a  few  waiting  for  the  consolation,  who  accept  the  new  tidings, 
follow  the  new  method,  and  soon  go  before  their  teacher, 
though  less  mighty  minds  than  he.  Such  is  the  case  with 
each  founder  of  a  school  in  philosophy,  each  sect  in  religion. 
Though  humble  men,  we  see  what  Socrates  and  Luther  never 
saw.  But  eighteen  centuries  have  passed  since  the  tide  of 
humanity  rose  so  high  in  Jesus.  What  man,  what  sect,  what 
Church,  has  mastered  his  noblest  thought,  comprehended  his 
method,  and  fully  applied  it  to  life  ?  .   .   . 

Has  the  New  Testament  exaggerated  the  greatness  and 


242  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

embellished  the  beauty  of  Jesus  ?  Measure  his  religious 
doctrine  by  that  of  the  time  and  place  he  lived  in,  or  that 
of  any  time  and  place,  —  yes,  by  the  doctrine  of  eternal  truth. 
Consider  what  a  work  his  words  and  deeds  have  wrought  in 
the  world  ;  that  he  is  still  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life,  to 
millions ;  that  he  is  reckoned  a  God  by  the  mass  of  Christians, 
his  word  their  standard  of  truth,  his  life  the  ideal  they  see  too 
far  above  them,  in  the  heavens,  for  their  imitation  ;  remember 
that  though  other  minds  have  seen  farther,  and  added  new 
truths  to  his  doctrines  of  religion,  yet  the  richest  hearts  have 
felt  no  deeper,  and  added  nothing  to  the  sentiment  of  religion, 
have  set  no  loftier  aim,  no  truer  method  than  his,  of  perfect 
love  to  God  and  man ;  and  then  ask,  "  Have  the  Evangelists 
overrated  him  ?  "  We  can  learn  few  facts  about  Jesus  ;  but 
measure  him  by  the  shadow  he  has  cast  into  the  world,  no, 
by  the  light  he  has  shed  upon  it ;  not  by  things  in  which 
Hercules  was  his  equal,  and  Vishnu  his  superior.  Shall  we 
be  told,  such  a  man  never  lived  ;  the  whole  story  is  a  lie  ? 
Suppose  that  Plato  and  Newton  never  lived  ;  that  their  stor)- 
is  a  lie.  But  who  did  their  works,  and  thought  their  thoughts? 
It  takes  a  Newton  to  forge  a  Newton.  What  man  could  have 
fabricated  a  Jesus  ?     None  but  a  Jesus. 


HENRY    WHITNEY    BELLOWS. 

[Re-Statements  of  Christian  Doctrine.     New  York  :  i860.     P.  327.] 

In  Jesus  Christ  there  broke  into  the  world  a  mighty  and 
shaping  influence,  a  holy  will,  a  spiritual  sovereignty,  an 
illuminating,  warning,  inspiring  principle  of  mingled  thought, 
affection,  and  volition,  which  was,  among  the  other  moral  and 
spiritual  influences  at  work  upon  the  world  of  feeling  and 
oj^inion,  what  the  mighty  Gulf  Stream  is  among  the  other 
currents  of  the  ocean,  —  changing  the  temperature  of  the  most 
distant  seas,  ameliorating  the  climates  of  far-off  shores,  and 
modifying  the  navigation  and  the  commerce  of  the  globe. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  243 

ORVILLE    DEWEY. 

[Works.     New  York  :  1870.     Vol.  i.  p.  354.     Vol.  iii.  pp.  76,  85,  86,  88.] 

There  are  things  that  unite  the  moral  suffrages  of  man- 
kind, —  honesty,  integrity,  disinterestedness,  pity  for  the  sor- 
rowful, true  love,  true  sanctity,  self-sacrifice,  martyrdom,  and, 
among  them  and  above  them  all,  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Bad  as  the  world  is,  yet  all  sects  and  classes  and  communities, 
all  infidels,  Mohammedans,  and  heathen,  have  agreed,  without 
one  single  solitary  whisper  of  contradiction,  that  this  character 
is  a  perfect  example  of  true  divine  excellence. 

The  death  of  lesus  becomes,  to  me,  the  one  g-reat 
revelation.  I  determine  to  know  nothing  else  ;  nothing  in 
comparison  with  it ;  nothing  is  of  equal  interest.  All  the 
glory  of  Christ's  example,  all  the  graciousness  of  his  purposes, 
shines  most  brig-htlv  on  the  cross.  It  is  the  consummation 
of  all,  the  finishing  of  all.  The  epitaph  of  Jesus  is  the  epit- 
ome of  Christianity.  The  death  of  Jesus  is  the  life  of  the 
world. 

Jesus  knew,  if  he  were  lifted  up,  he  w^ould  draw  all  men 
to  him.  And  how  draw^  all  men  ^  Plainly,  in  sympath}-,  in 
imitation,  in  love.  He  designed  to  speak  to  all  ages,  to  touch 
all  the  high  and  solemn  aspirations  of  unnumbered  millions 
of  souls  ;  to  win  the  world  to  the  noble  spirit  of  self-sacrifice, 
to  disinterestedness  and  fortitude  and  patience,  to  meekness 
and  candor  and  gentleness,  and  forgiveness  of  injuries.  This 
is  the  heroism  of  Christianit}'.  In  these  virtues,  centres  all 
true  glory.  This  did  Jesus  mean  to  illustrate.  His  purpose 
was  to  turn  off  the  eyes  of  men  from  the  power,  pride,  and 
ambition  and  splendor  of  the  world,  to  the  true  grandeur, 
dignity,  and  all-sufficing  good  of  love,  meekness,  and  disinter- 
estedness. And  how  surely  have  his  purposes  and  predictions 
been  accomplished  !  A  renovating  power  has  gone  forth  from 
him  upon  the  face  of  the  whole  civilized  world,  and  is  fast 
speading  itself  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.     And  one  emphatic 


244  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

proof  of  this  is,  that  the  cross,  before  the  stigma  of  the  vilest 
crimes,  has  become  the  emblem  of  all  spiritual  greatness. 

What  a  peculiarity  was  there  in  the  character  of  this 
wonderful  Being,  the  rejected,  the  scorned,  the  scourged,  the 
crucified  !  And  yet  no  being  was  ever  so  considerate  towards 
the  faults  of  his  friends,  as  he  was  towards  the  hostility  of  his 
very  enemies  ;  no  being  was  ever  so  kindly  compassionate  in 
spirit,  so  habitually  even  and  cheerful  in  temper,  so  generous 
and  gracious  in  manner.  I  cannot  express  the  sense  I  have 
of  his  equanimity,  of  his  gentleness,  of  the  untouched  beauty 
and  sweetness  of  his  philanthropy,  of  the  unapproached  great- 
ness of  his  magnanimity  and  fortitude.  He  looked  through 
this  life  with  a  spiritual  eye,  and  saw  the  wise  and  beneficent 
effect  of  suffering.  He  looked  up  with  confiding  faith  to  a 
Father  in  heaven  ;  he  looked  through  the  long  and  blessed 
ages  beyond  this  life ;  and  earth,  with  all  its  scenes  and 
sorrows,  shrunk  to  a  point  amidst  the  all-surrounding  infinity 
of  truth  and  goodness  and  heaven. 


EDWIN    HUBBELL    CHAPIN. 

[Living  Words:   Sermons.     Boston:  i860.     Pp.  roS.  143.] 

Life  is  the  greatest  thing  that  could  be  given  to  us.  It  is 
the  greatest  thing  which  man  can  communicate  to  his  fellow- 
man,  when  he  enlarges  in  any  way  his  life,  —  gives  him  a  new 
faculty.  When  the  artist  finds  new  beauty ;  when  a  new  fact 
is  discovered ;  when  Galileo  turns  his  leaden  tube  to  the 
skies,  and  sees  the  phases  of  Venus  and  the  satellites  of 
Jupiter ;  when  Columbus  returns  with  tattered  sails  to  bring 
the  glory  of  a  new  world  ;  when  Cuvier  reads  the  earth  in  its 
mineralogy  and  its  animal  structure,  passing  from  fibre  to 
fibre,  from  organ  to  organ,  until  he  reaches  the  highest  truth; 
whenever  human  ])hilanthropy  gives  new  utterance  to  the 
divine  love,  —  it  adds  to  the  life  of  humanity,  and  contributes 
the  greatest  thing  a  man  can  eive  to  the  human   race.      Christ 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  245 

has  enlarged  it  more  than  all.  He  has  given  the  whole  soul 
life.  He  has  brought  it  into  infinite  communion  with  the 
?\'ither.      He  has  made  the  eternal  world  real  to  us. 

Before  the  advent  of  Jesus,  something  was  needed  by 
humanity,  and  sought  for,  which  it  could  not  obtain  itself. 
It  is  this  desire,  this  want,  that  sighs  wistfully  from  the  great 
heart  of  heathenism.  It  is  this  that  heaves  up  in  broken 
longings  from  among  the  symbols  of  a  declining  worship. 
It  is  this  that  clouds  with  dissatisfaction  the  glory  of  the  oracle, 
and  strips  the  veil  from  the  beautiful  deceits  of  mythology. 
It  is  this  that  breathes  in  snatches  of  fragmentary  music, 
wandering  as  if  in  search  of  the  full  harmony.  It  was  because 
of  this  that  philosophy  struggled,  but  could  not  attain  ;  and 
the  wisest  intellects  groped  among  strange  splendors  and 
awful  shadows.  It  was  this  that  made  the  world  look,  at  the 
time  Christ  came,  like  a  world  in  eclipse,  an  exhausted  world, 
a  world  of  orphanage.  He  filled  a  great  want,  which  until 
then  was  unsatisfied.  He  realized  an  ideal,  which  until  then 
was  incomplete.  He  imparted  a  power  to  the  soul,  which 
until  then  it  did  not  possess. 


JOHN   TULLOCH. 


[The  Christ  of  the  Gospels  and  the  Christ  of  Modern  Criticism.    Cincinnati : 

1865.    Pp.  205-208.] 

There  is  no  religion  whose  interest  centres  in  the  person 
and  character  of  its  founder  in  the  same  degree  as  in  Chris- 
tianity. Christ  is  Christianity.  In  him  are  all  its  truths,  all 
its  motives,  all  its  glory,  summed  up.  He  is  the  Alpha  and 
the  Omega  ;  the  embodiment  of  all  it  teaches,  all  it  prescribes, 
all  it  promises.  In  this  respect,  it  differs  entirely  from  Moham- 
medanism, or  Buddhism,  or  any  other  religion  which  has 
largely  influenced  the  world.  They  rest  upon  many  influ- 
ences :  Christianity  rests,  above  all,  on  Christ.  It  is  the 
spiritual  beauty  and   perfection    of   his    character  which    has 


246  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

given  it  the  hold  it  has  upon  the  intelHgence  of  the  most 
intelHgent  nations  of  the  world,  which  has  given  it  the  sway 
it  has  over  the  most  spiritual  and  exalted  souls  that  have  ever 
lived  in  the  world.  The  character  of  Mohammed  was  by  no 
means  an  important  element  in  the  influence  exercised  by  his 
religion.  The  character  of  Sakya  Mouni,  pure  and  noble  and 
self-denying  as  it  may  have  been,  was  never  a  living,  consist- 
ent, and  intelligible  reality  to  the  millions  who  submitted 
themselves  to  his  doctrines  or  institutions.  Both  characters 
may  be  quite  obscured  or  forgotten,  and  yet  the  religions 
which  they  founded  survive  and  maintain  their  force.  They 
are  the  religions  of  peoples  governed  by  institutions  and 
traditions,  and  not  by  character ;  by  the  power  of  will  at  best, 
and  not  by  the  attraction  of  love.  Let  it  be  admitted  that 
there  are  nations  to  whom  Christianity  has  also  become  little 
more  than  an  external  influence,  —  an  institution,  —  which 
claims  their  obedience,  rather  than  a  moral  power  which  in- 
stinctively sways  their  hearts  ;  to  whom  the  character  of  Christ 
is  hidden  behind  the  forms  and  traditions  that  have  gathered 
around  his  name :  it  remains  true,  nevertheless,  that  this 
character  is  the  great  motive  power  of  a  living  Christianity 
everywhere,  as  it  was  the  great  motive  power  of  its  original 
progression.  And  it  is  no  less  true  that  Christianity  would 
wholly  fail  as  a  religious  influence,  were  this  character  to  lose 
its  lustre.  It  does  so  proportionally  wherever  the  externalities 
of  religion  darken  the  spiritual  ideal. 


ROBERT    LAIRD    COLLIER. 

[Meditations  on  thk  Essence  ok  Christianity,     lioston  :  1876.     Pp.  58,  59.] 

We  have  no  higher  idea  of  man  than  Christ  is,  and  no 
higher  idea  of  God  than  Christ  has  revealed.  He  was  the 
revelation  himself,  finitely ;  the  essence  of  this  is  in  him. 
the  expanse  of  this  was  God.  Indeed,  Christ  seemed  "  empty 
of  all  save  God."      He  was  of  God,  accordinq^  to  his  measure, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  247 

which,  nevertheless,  had  the  Hmitations  of  humanity  and 
hniteness.  He  was  all  that  a  perfect  man  could  be.  In  his 
perfection  he  was  like  God,  in  his  limitation  he  was  like  man. 
Christ  is  the  light  of  the  world.  Rising  in  the  East,  this 
sun  has  girdled  the  earth,  and  lighted  up  all  zones  with  its 
own  splendors.  As  the  world  has  not  yet  conceived  a  more 
perfect  pattern,  it  has  not  asked  for  one,  and  will  not  whilst 
it  remains  true,  as  now,  that  man  knows  no  holy  desire 
unsatisfied,  no  spiritual  want  unmet,  no  immortal  aspiration 
unfulfilled,  in  Christ  our  Lord. 


THOMAS    STARR    KING. 

[Christianity  and  Humanity.     Boston:  1877.     Pp- 37:  38,  43-45.] 

Jesus  walked  in  Galilee  with  fishermen,  but  he  talked  to 
the  universal  soul.  He  sat  on  the  hillside  near  Capernaum, 
but  his  sermon  was  preached  to  all  future  generations  of  men. 
He  conversed  with  a  Samaritan  woman  at  Jacob's  well ;  but  he 
whispered  there  the  truths  of  God's  spirituality  and  of  uni- 
versal worship  into  the  ear  of  the  race.  He  narrated  a  story 
to  a  Jewish  lawyer ;  but  it  was  the  world  that  hearkened,  and 
treasured  the  picture  of  the  good  Samaritan  as  the  ideal  of 
duty.  He  partook  of  a  simple  meal  with  twelve  humble 
friends;  and  the  penitent,  the  bowed,  the  weary,  the  bereaved 
of  all  nations  and  outstretching  centuries,  were  dimly  arranged 
around  that  board.  His  office  was  the  highest  to  scatter 
superstitions  that  hung  between  the  heavens  and  human  eyes, 
to  quicken  the  religious  sentiment  of  the  world  by  his  breath, 
to  bring  the  race  together  in  a  common  worship  of  the  Father, 
and  to  publish  such  a  mercy  hidden  in  the  skies,  that  penitence 
should  be  quickened  in  the  hearts  of  men,  and  a  filial  life 
take  the  place  of  selfishness  and  sin,   .   .   . 

Where,  then,  is  there  another  name  that  can  stand  so  high? 
Must  it  not  of  necessity  rise  over  all  others,  as  the  world's 
greatest  practical  benefactor,   source  of  its  best   institutions. 


248  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

author  of  its  noblest  liberties,  purifier  of  its  homes,  quickener 
of  its  hopes,  inspirer  of  its  highest  happiness,  regenerator  of 
its  loves  ?  .   ,   . 

Intellect  is  not  our  highest  endowment.  Imagination  is 
not  our  crowning  faculty.  Every  form  of  genius  is  inferior 
to  conscience,  to  the  heart,  to  faith,  sympathy,  and  love.  If 
heaven  is  to  open  to  us,  it  must  be  through  the  deep,  warm, 
holy  sentiments  of  humanity.  Here  Christ  is  highest.  Here 
his  name  vaults  over  every  name.  Those  qualities  that  make 
our  humanity  translucent  with  beams  from  the  Infinite,  —  per- 
fect moral  truthfulness  piercing  through  all  mists  of  passion 
to  what  is  pure,  complete  conformity  to  conscience  and  will, 
undoubting  faith  in  God,  unfaltering  heroism,  prayerful  reli- 
ance upon  the  Infinite,  and  love  gushing  full  and  steadily 
towards  men  from  a  hallowed  heart :  were  not  these  elements 
of  the  soul  of  Jesus  ?  —  these  his  real  transfiguration  as  our 
spiritual  eyes  behold  him,  in  splendor  more  divine  than  that 
which  invested  his  form  on  Mount  Tabor,  as  though  they 
were  woven  of  the  pure  light  which  is  the  effluence  of  God  ? 
What  name  offers  itself  against  his  in  challenge  of  his  spir- 
itual supremacy  ?  In  meekness  and  in  majesty,  in  strength 
and  in  trust,  in  service  and  in  royalty,  in  pity  and  in  search- 
ing severity,  in  love  for  man  and  in  dear  devotion  to  his  high- 
est good,  in  relation  to  all  or  any  of  the  qualities  that  interpret 
the  compassion,  the  justice,  and  the  holiness  of  God,  or  that 
reveal  the  spiritual  beauty  and  worth  of  man,  what  name 
before  Jesus  rises  to  any  rivalry  ?  What  name  since,  that  is 
eminent  among  the  saints  and  the  illustrious  of  the  world's 
heroes  of  goodness,  does  not  count  it  the  highest  glory  to  be 
considered  his  disciple  ? 

His  name  must  be  the  highest,  because  the  desert,  and  his 
interview  with  Nicodemus,  and  his  merciful  healings,  and 
his  nights  of  prayer,  and  his  brotherly  communings  with  the 
lowly,  and  his  quickening  compassion  for  the  outcast,  and  his 
humility  at  the  last  supper,  and  his  lonely  fidelity  in  Geth- 
semane.  and  his  spiritual  royalty  before   Pilate,  and  his  last 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  249 

petition  for  his  murderers  on  the  cross,  are  the  points  in 
human  history  where  the  highest  quaHties  belonging  to  the 
divine  irradiate  our  nature, — hostihty  to  evil,  loyalty,  good- 
ness, pity  for  the  fallen,  and  love  conquering  all  malice  and 
revenge.  His  name  is  the  highest  as  the  personal  utterance 
of  what  is  highest  as  qualities  in  the  spiritual  world  and  in 
the  nature  of  God. 


LUTHER   T.    TOWNSEND. 

[The  God-Man.     Boston  :   1872.     Pp.  392  et  seq."] 

Jesus  arrayed  moral  and  religious  laws  into  such  new  and 
marvellous  combinations,  that  men  who  had  gone  to  sleep 
under  formalities,  finding  themselves  suddenly  shaken  by  the 
arm,  woke  up,  and  looked  upon  a  new  sunshine  in  a  new 
world.  He  surprised  and  astonished  men  at  every  turn  ;  nay, 
more.  Do  not  his  ideas  and  expressions  continue  to  thrill 
with  supreme  admiration  us  even,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the 
earth,  with  all  their  culture  and  refinement,  have  come  ? 

And,  what  is  no  less  remarkable,  Jesus  appears  at  all  times 
to  hold  much  more  in  reserve  than  is  expressed.  The  most 
august  composure,  which  cannot  exist  without  conscious 
strength  unexpended,  almost  untried,  seemed  ever  to  attend 
him.  He  was  composed  before  vast  multitudes  of  all  classes, 
and  even  when  confronting  the  passions  of  angry  men,  as 
if  twelve  legions  of  angels  awaited  his  command. 

Again,  Jesus,  as  a  teacher,  was  not  modest,  as  the  term 
is  employed  among  men,  nor  yet  vain.  Moses,  Zoroaster, 
Socrates,  Plato,  and  even  Mohammed,  were  modest :  they 
put  themselves  in  the  background,  never  represented  them- 
selves as  perfect  examples,  and  spoke,  upon  personal  admis- 
sion, the  words  of  others,  not  their  own. 

Jesus  possessed  such  severity  when  deserved,  so  great 
pity  when  in  presence  of  human  evil,  want,  and  sorrow,  such 
plainness  and  delicacy,  such  grandeur  and   gentleness,  such 


2  50  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

love,  patience,  purity,  perfection,  and  majesty,  and  all  these 
qualities  were  so  admirably  blended,  that  the  world  has  long 
since  ceased  to  look  tor  their  like. 

Consider  this  thought  for  a  moment :  He  taught  more 
and  better  religious  truth,  during  a  ministry  of  three  years, 
than  all  who  have  preceded  him.  So  exhaustive  was  he  in 
the  treatment  of  his  subjects,  that  the  world's  morality  and 
theology  no  longer  constitute  progressive  sciences.  Men  are 
henceforth  to  expound  and  modify  existing  formulae,  but  can 
advance  not  one  step  beyond  the  revelations  he  made. 

His  eloquence,  —  almost  the  only  example  of  native  elo- 
quence the  world  has  ever  seen,  —  though  eminently  persua- 
sive and  thrilling,  was  never  rhetorical  or  emotional.  He 
spoke :  the  world  is  listening  to-day.  because  his  sentiments 
were  the  embodiment  of  sublime  simplicity,  full  of  charm, 
and  as  free  from  vagaries  and  abstractions,  scholasticisms  and 
technicalities,  as  the  blush  of  June  or  the  golden  draper)-  of 
an  October  morning,  — 

"  Which  they  may  read  who  bind  the  sheaf, 
Or  build  the  house,  or  dig  the  grave, 
Or  those  wild  eyes  which  watch  the  wave 
In  roarings  round  the  coral  reef." 


JOHN    STUART    BLACKIE. 

[Four  Phases  of  Morals:   Socrates,  Aristotle,  Christfanitv,  Utilitarianism. 

Edinburgh:   187 1.     Pp.  247,  248.] 

Had  Socrates  not  lived  and  died  with  visible  power  and 
effect  before  men,  the  existence  of  these  schools,  fathered  by 
this  great  teacher,  would  have  been  impossible.  A  person  is 
the  necessary  nucleus  round  which  all  social  organisms  form 
themselves.  But  the  personality  of  Socrates  was  a  much  less 
important  element  in  the  formation  of  the  Socratic  schools 
than  that  of  Christ  was  in  the  formation  of  the  Christian 
Church.     Socrates  was  only  a  teacher;  one  who,   like  other 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  251 

teachers,  might  in  time  create  disciples  as  wise  as,  perhaps 
wiser  than,  himself.  Christ  was  a  Redeemer,  whose  function 
as  such  could  be  performed  by  no  vicar,  and  transmitted  to 
no  successor.  The  one  was  a  help  and  a  guide  ;  the  other,  a 
foundation  of  faith,  and  a  fountain  of  life.  Socrates  taught 
his  disciples  to  become  independent  of  him,  and  rely  on 
their  own  perfected  reason.  From  Christ  his  disciples  always 
derived  nourishment,  as  the  branches  from  the  vine.  And 
if  the  relation  of  Christ  to  his  disciples,  conceived  only  as  a 
living  Saviour,  walking  on  the  earth,  was  so  much  closer  than 
that  of  Socrates  to  his  disciples,  how  much  more  intimate  does 
the  relation  become  when  he,  who  lived  and  died  to  redeem 
humanity  from  sin,  rose  from  the  dead  as  a  living  guaranty 
that  all  who  walked  in  his  ways  should  follow  up  their  redemp- 
tion from  sin  by  a  speedy  victory  over  that  yet  stronger 
enemy,  death  ! 


NAPOLEON    ROUSSEL. 

[The  Christ  of  M.  Renan  and  the  Christ  of  the  Gospels.     London :   1864.     Pp. 

166-168,  179,  182,  183,  1S5.] 

What,  then,  are  the  moral  principles  of  Jesus  Christ? 
And,  first,  what  are  his  principles  on  the  subject  of  veracity  ? 
Is  man,  in  this  matter,  entitled  to  the  use  of  different  weights 
and  measures,  according  as  he  lives  in  the  East  or  in  the 
West  ?  Is  he  at  liberty  to  regulate  himself  by  the  rule  of 
honesty  adopted  by  his  race  and  the  age  in  which  he  lives  ? 
Does  Jesus  know  any  thing  of  the  theory  of  Oriental  sin- 
cerity ?  Does  he  admit  that  the  end  justifies  the  means  ? 
Will  he  say  with  M.  Renan,  "There  exists  no  broad  founda- 
tion which  is  not  laid  in  legends?  The  only  guilty  party 
is  the  humanity  which  desires  to  be  deceived  "  ?  Will  he  allow 
the  concealments  and  the  mental  reservations  which  are  sanc- 
tioned by  that  too  notorious  society  which  bears  too  beautiful 
a  name?  In  a  word,  will  Jesus  authorize  divers  sorts  ot 
truthfulness,  divers  kinds   of   convenient   affirmations?     No; 


252  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Jesus  has  but  one  word  for  all.  His  rule  is  admirably  simple  ; 
it  is  a  golden  rule,  a  divine  rule,  a  rule  we  may  challenge  all 
the  philosophers  to  surpass  or  even  to  equal:  "  Let  your  com- 
munication be  yea,  yea  ;  nay,  nay  ;  for  whatsoever  is  more  than 
these  cometh  of  evil."  Noble  and  impressive  maxim,  which 
bears  in  itself  the  seal  of  its  divinity ! 

But  did  Jesus  obey  this  precept  of  perfect  integrity? 
Yes;  always,  and  everywhere.  Follow  him  from  Jerusalem  to 
Gethsemane.  and  from  Gethsemane  to  the  Sanhedrim,  you  will 
find  him  perfectly  calm  and  truthful.  Whether  it  be  necessary 
to  assert  his  divine  mission,  or  to  brave  a  danger,  he  does 
both  with  the  same  simplicity.  "  Who  is  the  Son  of  God, 
that  I  might  believe  on  him?"  asks  the  man  born  blind.  "  It 
is  he  that  talketh  with  thee,"  answ^ers  Jesus.  The  soldiers 
search  for  him  in  the  garden,  that  they  may  take  him  before 
the  tribunal :  he  comes  to  meet  them,  and  says,  "  I  am  he." 
"Art  thou  the  Son  of  God?"  ask  the  priests  who  seek  to 
crucify  him.  "You  have  said,"  he  replies;  "I  am."  "Art 
thou  a  king,  then?"  asks  Pilate.  Again  Jesus  replies,  "I 
am."  Neither  hope  nor  fear,  neither  honor  nor  shame,  can 
alter  his  word  :  it  is  ever  his  own  "  Yea,  yea."  If  there  be 
one  conviction  stronger  than  another  forced  upon  the  reader 
of  the  Gospels,  it  is  this :  when  Jesus  speaks,  he  has  no  after- 
thought ;  he  speaks  the  truth,  the  whole  truth.  Unbelievers 
may  accuse  him  of  ignorance,  of  prejudice,  of  provincialism, 
but  never  of  falsehood. 

What  conclusion  are  we  to  draw  from  this  ?  Not  that 
Jesus  was  the  Son  of  God,  but  that  he  believed  himself  to  be 
so.  Whatever  else  may  be  questioned,  his  sincerity  must  not 
be  doubted.  He  said  often  and  in  many  ways,  "  I  am  the 
Son  ot  God."  Let  it  be  confessed  that  he  believed  he  spoke 
the  truth.  Jesus,  then,  either  was  the  Son  of  God,  or  else 
he  was  a  madman  !  There  is  no  other  alternative.  Rut  how- 
are  we  to  reconcile  this  madness  with  these  calm  words,  these 
profound  thoughts,  these  humble  sentiments,  this  i)ure  and 
hoi)-  lite  ?     Was   it   possible   for   a   madman    to  conceive   the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  253 

soundest  of  moral  systems,  and  specially  to  live  consistentl)- 
with  the  principles  of  this  morality  ?  Is  it  likely  that  a  mad- 
man could  be  so  wise  as  to  surpass  all  mankind  in  virtue,  and 
that  his  insanity  should  be  seen  only  in  the  name  he  assumed? 
No  ;  M.  Renan  himself  has  said  it :  "If  the  madman  walks 
side  by  side  with  the  inspired  man,  it  is  with  this  difference, 
that  the  madman  never  succeeds."  If,  therefore,  the  success 
of  a  moral  enterprise  be  the  test  of  wisdom,  who  was  ever 
w^ise  as  Jesus  Christ  ? 

How  deeply  we  feel  that  neither  our  own  pen,  nor  that 
of  any  uninspired  man,  can  ever  worthily  reproduce  the 
character  of  Jesus  Christ.  After  having  so  many  times  vainly 
attempted  it,  we  despair  of  success.  Have  our  readers,  for 
instance,  ever  met  with  a  head  of  Christ  which  has  satisfied 
them  ?  We  never  have.  Artists  and  writers  only  give  us 
magnified  men.  Alexander,  Caesar,  Napoleon,  all  have  our 
passions,  though  we  have  not  their  genius.  In  Socrates  and 
Plato  we  discover  the  germs  of  our  weakness,  though  they 
are  wiser  than  we.  A  St.  Paul,  an  Augustine,  and  a  Pascal 
leave  us  far  behind  on  the  road  to  holiness ;  yet  w^e  recognize 
them,  by  means  of  their  defects,  as  members  of  our  poor 
human  family;  and  even  were  we  disposed  to  be  indulgent 
towards  them,  their  own  confessions  are  there  to  correct  us. 
Thus,  always  and  everywhere,  man  remains  essentially  man. 

The  Evangelists  alone  have  made  us  conceive  an  ideal 
which  no  man,  whether  in  his  life,  or  by  his  pen,  has  ever 
reproduced.  And  if,  as  we  may  well  suppose,  their  picture 
is  so  far  from  the  reality,  as  we  are  from  their  copy,  what 
must  not  the  living  Christ  have  been  ? 

Jesus  resembles  no  other  man  ;  he  speaks  and  acts  as 
none  of  our  kind  ever  spoke  and  acted.  At  first  he  surprises 
us ;  but  as  we  contemplate  him,  our  surprise  changes  into 
admiration.  The  more  we  examine,  the  more  we  discover  in 
his  words  profound  thoughts  and  lofty  sentiments,  which,  till 
then,  had  never  entered  our  minds  or  our  hearts.  In  the 
midst  of  his  superior  world,  and  his  superhuman  atmosphere. 


254  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Jesus  lives  and  breathes  as  in  his  own  element.  There  he 
moves  freely ;  he  speaks  without  effort ;  all  is  familiar  to  him ; 
he  is  at  home.  Heaven  is  his  country;  holiness  is  his  nature; 
eternity  is  his  life.  His  constant  thought  is  about  the  king- 
dom of  God  ;  and  he  is  solely  occupied  with  the  will  of  his 
Father,  and  the  sanctification  of  humanity.  His  feet  scarcely 
touch  the  earth  ;  his  heart  is  ever  in  heaven.  We  feel  that 
he  is  a  stranger  to  the  petty  affairs  of  the  world  ;  even  the 
functions  of  a  secular  judge  are  beneath  him  ;  possibly  his 
hand  was  never  soiled  by  contact  with  money.  He  is  simple 
and  humble,  but  grave.  He  never  utters  a  jesting  word,  not 
even  a  useless  word,  nor  does  he  ever  speak  in  order  to  dis- 
pla\'  his  intellectual  superiority.  And,  as  a  last  noteworthy 
feature.  Jesus  certainly  wept,  but  we  do  not  learn  that  he 
ever  laughed.  Yet,  he  never  forgot  his  disciples,  nor  ever 
lost  sight  of  the  most  remote  generations  of  sinners  that  were 
to  come  after  him.  His  thoughts,  like  his  love,  embrace  the 
universe.     Surely  this  is  the  Son  of  God. 

Let  but  Jesus  speak,  and  your  attention  is  redoubled. 
His  maxims,  by  penetrating  into  your  spirit,  give  you  light ; 
the  more  you  study  them,  the  more  you  find  them  beautiful 
and  brilliant  with  the  light  of  truth.  They  are  like  the  starry 
heavens,  which  reveal  to  your  earnest  gaze  new  depths  filled 
with  new  lights,  of  which  even  the  most  dim  is  clear.  More- 
over, that  which  removes  from  you  the  fear  of  delusion  is  the 
fact  that  all  these  marvels  have,  as  their  end  and  aim,  not  the 
satisfaction  of  your  curiosity,  but  the  purification  of  your  heart, 
the  raising  of  your  mind,  and  the  kindling  of  your  devotion. 
Yes,  this  is  the  test  by  which  we  prove  the  pure  gold  of  the 
character  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  not  possible  to  contemplate 
him  without  moral  gain.  The  glow  of  life  is  communicated 
from  him  to  us;  it  pervades  our  being;  it  blesses  and  sancti- 
fies us.  Jesus  is  the  spiritual  sun  that  warms  and  vivifies  our 
souls. 

Three  hundred  millions  of  men  acknowledge  Jesus  Christ; 
and  the  civilization  of  Christendom  exceeds  all  others,  both 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  255 

in  its  extent  and  its  depth.  Pure  morals,  a  mild  legislation, 
the  raising  of  woman  to  her  true  standard,  the  freedom  of 
slaves,  the  relief  of  the  sick,  the  helpless  and  the  poor,  the 
brotherhood  of  nations,  —  these  are  things  before  our  very 
eyes,  but  only  to  be  found  in  the  Christian  world.  What  we 
ask,  therefore,  is  this :  Do  all  these  things  exist  without 
cause  ?  Do  they  date  from  yesterday  ?  If,  in  searching  for 
their  origin,  we  must  go  back  to  the  first  century  of  our  era, 
shall  we  find  them  to  have  been  spontaneous  growths?  Is 
this  transformation  without  parentage  ?  Let  the  divine  mis- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ,  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the 
existence  of  the  miracles,  be  denied  ;  will  the  void  thus  made 
better  explain  the  immense  results  of  which  we  are  witnesses, 
than  do  the  Evangelical  histories  ?  Is  Christianity  the  off- 
spring of  a  dream  ?  Did  it  grow  in  a  night  ?  Did  humanity 
wake  up  one  morning,  and  find  it  already  established  in  the 
earth?  Men  are  anxious  to  lessen  the  causes;  but  the  smaller 
these  are,  the  more  astoundinof  do  the  results  become. 

The  work  of  Christianity  is  before  us,  and  the  grandeur 
of  its  origin  is  proved  both  by  its  nature  and  by  its  extent. 
Its  sources  may  be  many,  but  they  must  be  divine  ;  for  man, 
in  his  ability  to  change  his  own  heart,  never  could  have  the 
power  to  transform  the  hearts  and  lives  of  twenty  generations. 


CHARLES    HARDWICK. 

[Christ  and  Other  Masters.     London :   1874.     Pp.  572,  573.] 

Christians  are  conscious  that  in  Christ  are  fully  satisfied 
the  cravings  of  a  spiritual  hunger  which  religions  of  the  world 
may  stimulate,  but  have  no  power  to  appease.  While 
Brahmans,  in  despair  of  the  helpers  whom  their  own  imagina- 
tion had  created,  were  still  dreaming  of  some  future  of 
Avatara  ;  while  the  Buddhist,  equally  in  North  and  South, 
abandoned  the  original  Buddha,  and  sought  comfort  now  in 
picturing  to  himself  the  distant  paradise  of  Amitabha,  "  the 


256  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

unmeasured  Light,"  and  now  in  praying  for  the  gracious 
intervention  of  some  Buddha  of  the  future  ;  while  the  primi- 
tive vision  of  the  helper  Sosiosh,  dim  and  fluctuating  at  the 
best,  was  blotted  from  the  Persian  mind  entirely,  or  was  fading 
under  the  augmented  splendor  of  the  younger  Mithra.  —  Christ, 
and  Christ  alone,  expected  in  the  old  econom)-  and  made 
manifest  in  the  new,  the  living,  reigning,  and  historic  Christ, 
the  brightness  of  the  Father's  glory  and  the  first-born  of  a 
human  brotherhood,  was  everywhere  imprinting  on  the  world 
an  image  of  his  love,  which  neither  time  nor  space  could 
deaden.  He  lighteth  every  man  by  shining  down  into  the 
heart.  He  is  the  true  sun,  of  which  all  heathen  mediators  are 
but  transient  and  confused  parhelia ;  for  while  Mithra,  once 
his  mighty  rival,  and  as  such  rejoicing  in  the  name  of  ''  the 
Invincible."  has  left  no  traces,  save  in  monumental  sculptures, 
of  the  homage  rendered  to  him  in  the  early  centuries  of  our 
era,  Christ,  the  sovereign  Lord  of  all,  is  going  forward  on  his 
peaceful  conquest  of  the  nations,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day, 
and  forever. 


THEODOR    CHRISTLIEB. 

[Best  Methods  of  counteracting  Modern  Infidelity.     New  York :  1874.     P.  25.] 

In  the  person  of  Christ  you  see  a  moral  grandeur,  in  which 
healthy  eyes,  at  least,  have  been  able  to  discover  no  blemish  ; 
an  ideal  of  perfection,  respecting  which,  even  rationalistic 
critics  have  confessed  that  all  human  standards  vanished 
before  it.  What,  in  view  of  this,  is  more  reasonable  than  to 
conclude  that  you,  poor,  fettered,  but  struggling  spirit,  unable 
to  free  yourself,  yet  destined  to  the  highest  good,  must,  to 
attain  your  destiny,  enter  into  a  personal  and  living  commun- 
ion with  the  only  perfect  One  who  has  appeared  in  the  history 
of  our  race,  —  with  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God  and  Son  of 
man,  the  sin-destroyer  and  Redeemer  of  the  world  ?  And  this 
is  the  sum  and  substance  of  our  Christian  faith  and  Christian 
life. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  257 

ARTHUR  PENRHYN  STANLEY. 

[The  History  of  the  Jewish  Church.     London:  1S77.    Pp.  472,  474.] 

The  Roman  statesmen,  the  Grecian  philosophers,  the 
Jewish  rabbis,  looked  for  nothing  beyond  the  immediate 
horizon  ;  but  the  Sibylline  Mystics  at  Alexandria,  the  poets 
at  Rome,  and  the  peasants  in  Syria,  were  wound  up  to  the 
expectation  of  "  some  beginning  of  a  new  order  of  the  ages," 
some  hero  "  who  from  Palestine  should  govern  the  habitable 
world,"  some  cause  in  which  the  East  should  once  more  wax 
strong. 

Such  an  epoch  was  at  hand,  but  unlike  any  thing  that 
either  Greek  or  Jew  of  that  time  had  conceived  ;  a  new  hero, 
but  unlike  any  character  that  in  that  age  either  Jew  or  Greek 
expected. 

What  was  that  new  birth  of  time  ?  What  was  to  be  the 
remedy  for  the  superstition,  infidelity,  casuistry,  ambition, 
impurity,  miser^^  of  the  age  ?  Not  a  conqueror,  not  a  philos- 
opher, not  a  Pharisee,  not  a  Sadducee,  not  a  mere  wonder- 
working magician,  not  an  ascetic,  not  a  vast  hierarchical 
organization,  not  a  philosophical  system  or  elaborate  creed,  — 
but  an  innocent  child,  an  humble  and  inquiring  boy;  a  man 
"  who  knew  what  was  in  man,"  —  full  of  sorrows,  yet  full  also 
of  enjoyment;  "who  went  about  doing  good,"  and  "who 
spake  as  never  man  spake ;  "  a  homely,  social,  yet  solitary 
being,  in  whose  transcendent  goodness  and  truthfulness  there 
was  revealed  a  new  image  of  the  divine  nature,  a  new  idea  of 
human  destiny ;  a  teacher  apart  from  the  generation  from 
which  he  sprang,  yet  specially  suited  to  the  needs  of  that 
generation  ;  a  fulfilment  of  a  longing  expectation,  yet  a  fulfil- 
ment in  a  sense  the  reverse  of  that  which  was  expected  ; 
Israelite,  Oriental  by  race,  but  Greek  in  the  wide  penetration 
of  his  sympathy,  Roman  in  the  majesty  of  his  authority. 
The  world  was,  as  it  were,  taken  by  surprise.  All  his  teach- 
ing abounded  in   surprises.     But    his  own   coming,  his  own 


258  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

self,  was  the  greatest  surprise  of  all ;  and  yet,  when  we  reflect 
upon  it,  we  feel  as  if  we  ought  not  to  have  looked  for  any 
thing  else. 

It  was  the  arrival  of  an  event  which  was  but  imperfectly 
understood  at  the  time,  which  has  been  but  imperfectly  under- 
stood since  ;  which  was,  therefore,  not  exhausted  then,  and 
is  not  exhausted  now. 

If  ever  there  was  a  religion  which  maintained  a  continuity 
with  ancient  materials  or  parallel  phenomena,  it  was  that 
which  avowedly  came  not  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil,  the  glories 
of  Judaism;  not  to  exclude,  but  to  comprehend,  the  aspirations 
of  all  the  races  of  mankind. 


EPHRAIM    PEABODY. 

[The  Saviour.     Boston:  1858.     Pp.  211,  112,  219.] 

Christ  stands  before  the  world,  not  merely  the  image  of 
God,  but  the  standard  of  perfect  humanity.  In  him  perfect 
moral  excellence  is  embodied,  and  by  being  embodied  is  made 
distinct,  clear,  definite,  to  the  world's  eye.  Henceforth  the 
world's  ideas  of  moral  excellence  are  as  much  more  distinct 
as  would  be  one's  conceptions  of  a  work  of  art,  who,  having 
read  only  some  vague  description  of  it  in  words,  should  after- 
wards see  it  embodied  in  the  chiselled  and  polished  marble. 
The  fact  that  one  perfect  character  has  appeared  where  it 
might  be  seen  has  cleared  up  and  rendered  definite  the 
world's  notions  of  moral  excellence.  The  passions  of  men, 
seeking  apology  for  indulgence,  the  customs  of  difierent 
nations  and  ages,  the  conflicting  theories  of  philosophers,  — 
all  disturb  and  confuse  and  cloud  over  our  notions  of  moral 
excellences. 

But,  above  these  breakers  and  drifting  clouds,  the  character 
of  Christ  stands,  and  shines  fixedly  like  a  star.  If  we  look 
only  around  us  on  our  voyage  over  life,  instead  of  fixed  land- 
marks, we  see  only  night    and    storm  and    breaking  waves. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  259 

We  look  upward,  and  there  shines  that  constant,  tranquil 
light  to  guide  us  across  the  seas.  Let  one  living,  perfect 
standard  of  excellence  be  raised  ^loft  so  that  all  may  see  it, 
and  the  world  unconsciously  measures  itself  by  it.  Some, 
looking  at  that  perfect  example,  revere  and  love,  and  through 
reverence  and  love  ascend  towards  it ;  and  others  follow  them. 
All  feel  a  gravitating  power  raising  them  upward.  That  ideal 
standard  gives  a  coloring  to  literature  :  it  modifies  philosophy, 
gives  directness  to  men's  views  of  life  and  its  objects,  and 
affects,  more  or  less,  all  human  institutions. 

We  have  thus  endeavored  to  state  some  of  the  reasons 
that  induce  us  to  dwell  on  the  character,  rather  than  on  the 
nature,  of  Christ.  However  important  it  may  be  to  have  a 
correct  faith  as  to  the  nature  of  Christ,  as  to  his  metaphysical 
constitution,  we  deem  it  of  infinitely  higher  moment  that  we 
should  have  just  and  abiding  conceptions  of  his  character. 
Through  his  character,  as  through  a  glass,  not  darkly,  we  see 
all  those  spiritual  truths  that  it  most  concerns  us  to  know. 
Through  his  character,  God,  the  moral  governor,  reveals  him- 
self. Through  his  character,  the  spirit  of  truth  and  of  heaven 
are  made  manifest.  In  his  character  we  shall  see  the  charac- 
ter of  heaven,  that  character  towards  which  we  must  approach, 
and  with  which  we  must  have  a  true  sympathy,  or  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven  cannot  be  ours.  It  is  because  of  these  reasons, 
that  we  attach  such  importance  to  the  Saviour's  character. 
We  deem  them  of  as  much  more  importance  than  mere  specu- 
lations about  his  nature,  as  we  deem  a  Christian  character  in 
ourselves  of  more  importance  than  any  metaphysical  specula- 
tions about  our  own  natures.  The  nature  of  Christ  furnishes 
for  us  little  except  matter  for  metaphysical  speculation,  but 
his  character  is  connected  with  our  highest  happiness  on  earth 
and  our  holiest  hopes  of  heaven. 

It  is  because  of  this,  that  the  apostles  dwell  so  much  on 
the  necessity  of  faith  in  Christ ;  not  faith  in  speculations  about 
his  metaphysical  constitution,  not  faith  in  some  creed  about  his 
nature,   but   faith   in  that  which  is   the    glory  and   crown  of 


26o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

his  nature,  faith  in  his  moral  excellence,  faith  that  he  was  the 
image  and  appointed  manifestation  of  the  Father,  faith  in  his 
truth,  faith  in  his  character,  as  the  perfect  standard  of  heavenly 
excellence. 

Therefore  they  require  faith  in  Christ  crucified  ;  because 
on  the  cross,  from  amidst  its  scorn  and  agony,  from  amidst 
the  tumult  of  men  below,  and  the  darkened  heavens  above, 
shone  forth  over  the  world  that  character  with  brightest  beams. 
Therefore  would  they  ever  carry  us,  not  to  his  words  alone, 
but  to  himself:  they  would  have  us  see  him,  follow  him  as  our 
benefactor,  leader.  Saviour,  as  that  Star  in  the  East,  which 
moves  on,  ever  with  steady  light,  to  guide  us  to  salvation. 


JOSEPH    BARKER. 

[Jesus:  A  Portrait.     Philadelphia:  1873.     Pp.9,  10.] 

There  is  evidently  something  most  remarkable  about 
Jesus.  No  one  that  ever  appeared  on  the  earth  has  been 
the  subject  of  so  much  thought  and  so  much  talk.  Books 
have  been  written  about  him  without  end.  And  men  seem 
to  be  writing  about  him  at  present  more  eagerly  than  ever. 
He  filled  the  whole  country  of  his  birth  with  excitement 
during  his  life  ;  and  since  his  death,  he  has  kept  the  world 
at  large  in  a  ferment.  His  name  and  religion  seem  likely  to 
engage  the  thoughts  and  employ  the  tongues  and  pens  of 
mankind  to  the  end  of  time.  The  most  magnificent  structures 
have  been  raised  to  his  honor,  and  the  highest  art  has  done 
homage  to  his  name. 

The  society  which  he  formed  is  the  wonder  of  the  world. 
Its  peculiar  constitution  and  wonderful  history,  its  vast  dimen- 
sions and  its  mighty  power,  the  incalculable  service  it  has 
rendered  to  mankind,  and  the  multiplied  efforts  which  it  is 
still  making  for  the  regeneration  and  salvation  of  the  world, 
fill  one's  mind  with  amazement.  His  friends  are  numberless, 
and  they  are  the  best  and  most  beneficent  men  and  women 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  261 

Upon  earth.  He  has,  at  this  moment,  a  name  above  every 
name.  He  stands  at  the  head  of  all  the  great  worthies  that 
have  ever  adorned  or  blessed  our  race.  The  next  in  honor 
on  the  roll  of  fame  are  his  faithful  followers.  And  the  least 
among-  his  followers  rank  higher  than  the  highest  of  the 
world's  celebrities. 


ATHANASE    COQUEREL. 

[Voices  of  the  Church.     London:  1S45.     Pp.  78,  79,  107-109.] 

No  other  moral  revolution  of  which  we  have  any  record, 
approaches  in  grandeur,  in  importance,  or  in  duration,  to  the 
influence  of  the  Christian  religion  ;  even  its  enemies  concede 
this.  To  use  the  expressive  language  of  Holy  Writ,  "All 
things  became  new."  The  pure  knowledge  of  God,  and  of 
the  spiritual  worship  we  should  offer  him  ;  the  rooting-out 
of  all  idolatry,  and  its  revival  rendered  impossible  ;  the  rela- 
tions between  man  and  God  placed  in  their  true  light,  and 
the  necessity  of  a  reconciliation  proclaimed  ;  the  equality  and 
brotherhood  of  man  given  as  the  basis  of  a  new  social  state ; 
families  restored  to  their  primitive  foundations,  divinely  insti- 
tuted in  the  times  of  innocence,  but  forgotten  in  the  Pagan 
world  and  even  amongst  the  Jews ;  the  value  of  human  life 
at  last  appreciated  ;  the  tomb  laid  open,  and  disarmed  of  its 
terrors  ;  immortality  brought  to  light,  and  promised  to  man  ; 
peace  of  mind,  forgiveness  of  injuries,  charity,  —  these  three 
things,  of  the  very  names  of  which  antiquity  was  ignorant ; 
the  rights  of  conscience  re-established,  and  the  broad  way  of 
human  perceptibility  ever  opened  to  our  steps  ;  the  glories, 
the  knowledge,  the  joys,  the  affections,  of  a  purely  spiritual 
heaven  calmly  anticipated  by  the  most  humble  and  most 
simple  disciples  of  a  crucified  Saviour,  —  this,  in  a  few  words, 
is  the  whole  of  Christianity ;  for  which,  according  to  our 
Christian  faith,  the  whole  of  antiquity  till  the  advent  of  Christ 
was,  under  God,  engaged  in  preparing ;  which,  since  the  birth 


262  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

of  Christ,  occupies  eighteen  centuries  teeming  with  events,  and 
which  in  some  degree  constitutes  their  sole  history;  and  which, 
as  to  time  to  come,  seized  beforehand  upon  the  whole  of 
futurity  until  the  end  of  the  world,  and  of  eternity  beyond.   .   .   . 

When  one  has  thoroughly  contemplated  this  world  of  sin 
and  selfishness  and  war,  in  its  moral  nakedness  ;  when  one 
has  studied  it  well,  not  through  the  deceitful  prism  of  a 
system,  but  in  the  broad  daylight  of  conscience  and  history,  — 
how  can  one  help  being  struck,  awed,  and  moved  by  traits  of 
character  which  form,  and  have  been  called,  the  incomparable 
originality  of  Christ  ? 

Our  adversary  will  contend  that  that  is  the  Christian  point 
of  view,  and  that  w^e  have  by  no  means  the  right  to  take  our 
stand  there  in  order  to  reply  to  him  that  it  is  proving  the 
question  by  the  question  itself,  and  certifying  the  faith  by 
the  faith  itself.  No  ;  it  is  to  take  bne's  stand  in  the  centre 
of  conscience,  which  is  his  own  as  well  as  ours  ;  and  according 
to  conscience,  according  to  that  reflected  admiration  which  the 
benignity  and  holiness  of  Jesus  obtain  not  only  from  the  reli- 
gious sentiment  which  animates  believers,  but  from  the  moral 
sense  which  oueht  to  animate  all  mankind ;  accordino-  to 
that  instinctive  admiration  which  made  Clovis  frankly  regret 
that  he  was  not  present  at  Jerusalem  and  Calvary  with  his 
Franks,  —  the  benignity  and  holiness  can  be  only  facts,  and 
not  dreams  :   our  world  is  too  sinful  for  dreams  so  pure. 

It  has  been  said.  Why  dispute  about  the  certainty  of  a 
creation,  or  the  excellence  of  the  universe  ?  If  there  is  a  God, 
there  is  a  Creator.  Let  the  Creator  make  you  believe  in  the 
creation  ;  let  the  infinite  perfection  of  the  Supreme  Workman 
make  you  believe  in  the  excellence  of  his  work.  This  reason- 
ing is  just,  and  is  only  a  summary  of  the  remarkable  system 
of  optimism  produced  by  the  genius  of  Leibnitz.  The  vast 
and  prolound  thoughts  of  this  great  man  upon  the  work  of 
the  Creator  may  be  applied  to  the  work  of  Christ :  thus, 
as  the  attributes  of  God  demonstrate  creation,  so  the  virtues 
of  Christ  prove  Christianity. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  263 

Jesus  is  the  ideal  of  virtue,  such  as  the  human  conscience 
conceives  it ;  so  perfect  that  all  the  efforts  of  the  most  deli- 
cate conscience,  the  most  fertile  imagination,  and  the  most 
expansive  charity,  cannot  add  to  it  the  least  trait ;  that  from 
circumstance  to  circumstance  through  all  the  Gospel,  one 
continually  asks  himself,  but  in  vain,  what  Christ  could  possi- 
bly have  done  otherwise,  or  better,  than  he  did  ;  that,  in  a 
word,  to  figure  to  one's  self  Christ  more  virtuous  is  a  moral 
impossibility. 

But  what  forms  an  irresistible  demonstration  ao^ainst  Dr. 
Strauss  and  his  deplorable  doctrine  is,  in  our  opinion,  that 
Jesus,  the  ideal  of  virtue,  is  a  practical  ideal.  His  perfection 
has  nothing  of  that  impossible  heroism  which  the  imagination 
of  poets,  and  even  sometimes  the  impudent  exaggerations  of 
moralists,  attach  to  the  models  they  exhibit  ;  his  perfection 
has  nothing  of  that  of  heroes  according  to  fable,  or  of  angels 
according  to  revelation  ;  his  virtues  are  all  human,  and  do 
not  quit  the  earth,  or  step  out  of  the  just  proportions  of 
humanity.  He  is  virtuous,  as  people  may  be  in  a  world  like 
ours,  in  the  interval  comprised  between  the  cradle  and  the 
tomb.  He  never  forgets,  in  his  struggle  with  the  wicked,  in 
the  devotedness  of  his  charity,  in  the  most  sublime  flights  of 
his  piety,  even  in  his  indignations,  —  he  never  forgets  that 
he  had  not  taken  the  resemblance  of  ana-els,  but  the  form  of 
a  servant,  and  that  he  was  made  in  all  points  like  as  we  are, 
yet  without  sin.  Man  amongst  men,  he  was  an  Israelite 
amongst  Israelites,  taking  part  in  all  the  interests  of  his  age 
and  nation,  as  well  as  in  the  worship  of  his  country,  keeping 
so  close  to  all  of  us,  sons  of  Adam  and  his  brethren,  that  he 
condescends  even  to  weep  with  mourners  at  the  very  moment 
of  a  resurrection,  as  if  to  authorize,  and  sanctify  at  the  same 
time,  our  sorrows,  our  tears,  and  our  hopes. 

From  this  complete  and  continued  absence  of  impossibility 
in  the  virtues  of  Christ,  there  results  to  Christianity  one  advan- 
tage which  alone  amongst  all  the  religions  of  the  world  it 
possesses,  and  will  possess  ;   namely,  that  of  having  exhibited 


264  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

to  the  world  a  model  which  is  the  ideal  of  perfection,  but 
which  is  not  inimitable  ;  which  does  not  leave  the  sinner,  who 
is  invited  to  follow  this  perfect  model,  the  pleasing  and 
legitimate   excuse,   "  I  cannot." 

When  contemplating  the  virtues  of  Christ,  we  feel  our- 
selves in  the  presence  of  the  ideal,  but  at  the  same  time  of 
the  possible.  We  admire,  we  extol,  we  worship  ;  we  seek  for 
some  holiness  beyond  this,  but  find  none.  We  search  in  the 
most  sublime  conceptions  of  human  genius,  for  some  virtue 
more  virtuous,  some  charity  more  charitable,  an  appearance, 
a  shade  of  devotion  more  generous ;  but  find  none.  All  is 
IN  Christ. 


HENRY    BOYNTON    SMITH. 

[Faith  and  Philosophy.     New  York:  1877.    Pp.  401,  402.] 

The  historic  supremacy  of  Jesus  is  incontrovertible.  It 
is  as  real  as  religious  life  and  faith.  Christ  can  no  more  be 
expelled  from  the  course  of  history  than  the  sun  from  the 
circle  of  the  sky.  Scepticism  about  Christ  is  also  scepticism 
about  history  itself;  unbelief  in  him  is  unbelief  in  the  con- 
trolling ideas  by  which  men  have  been  inspired,  and  in  the 
chief  objects  for  which  men  have  hitherto  lived.  And  such 
is  the  mysterious  fascination  which  still  issues  from  his  trans- 
cendent person,  that  even  the  incredulous  are  drawn  to  him 
against  their  very  will.  He  has  power  over  them.  To  take 
the  veil  from  his  form,  is  dimly  felt  like  taking  the  veil  from 
the  master  of  our  fate,  and  reading  the  profoundest  meaning 
of  our  earthly  life. 

Here  is  the  urn  of  destiny,  and  that  urn  holds  no  dead 
ashes.  His  power  over  men  is  still  the  power  of  a  living 
personality.  To  every  thoughtful  mind,  believing  or  un- 
believing, he  is  the  ideal  of  humanity,  the  son  of  man,  and, 
as  no  other,  the  very  Son  of  God.  Not  to  bow  before  his 
matchless  worth,  is  to  be  faithless  to  humanity,  if  not  divinity 
itself.     His  influence  is  the  marvel  of  history. 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  265 

JOHN    CUNNINGHAM. 

[Scotch  Sermons.     New  York:  1881.    Pp.  46,  47.] 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  by  his  teaching  as  well  as  by  his  life, 
did  much  to  manifest  God.  He  emphatically  declared  his 
spirituality.  The  idea  was  not  altogether  new ;  but  in  every 
religious  system  of  the  then  world,  it  was  forgotten.  And, 
having  declared  that  God  was  a  Spirit,  he  drew  from  it  the 
inevitable  inference  that  all  true  worship  must  be  spiritual, 
and  thus  revolutionized  the  religions  of  the  world.  All  places 
and  all  times  are  alike  holy.  On  Mount  Gerizim  or  Mount 
Moriah,  in  mosque  or  cathedral  or  meeting-house,  by  the  fire- 
side or  in  the  field,  on  Saturday  or  on  Sunday,  there  may  be 
worship,  in  spirit  and  in  truth,  of  the  spiritual  God.  Every  as- 
piration after  goodness  is  worship.  Thus  in  the  words  of  Jesus, 
as  he  sat  weary  and  thirsty  by  Jacob's  well,  and  conversed  with 
the  Samaritan  woman  who  had  come  there  with  her  pitcher  to 
draw  water,  we  get  a  view  of  divinity  from  which  all  the  world 
might  learn  something  ;  and  we  see  no  national  deity,  no  sec- 
tarian God,  but  the  universal  Spirit,  the  common  Father  of  all 
mankind.  The  Gentile  idea  of  God  was  grievously  wrong;  the 
Jewish  idea  was,  in  some  respects,  almost  as  far  from  the  truth; 
but  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  ideas  were  alike  corrected  in  the 
sublime  virtues  and  blessed  lessons  of  Jesus  the  Saviour. 


J.    ALLANSON    PICTON. 

[The  Mystery  of  Matter.     London:  1873.     Pp.  437,  438.] 

A  DISTINGUISHED  man  once  ventured  the  assertion  that 
Marcus  Antoninus  was  a  nobler  ideal  of  human  character  than 
is  the  object  of  Christian  reverence.  To  which  a  professed 
positivist  present  replied,  "  He  never  heard  that  Marcus 
Antoninus  ever  conceived  of  saving  a  world  by  the  sacrifice 
of  himself."  The  remark  was  just.  It  is  precisely  the  moral 
grandeur  of  the  purpose  borne  out  by  the  spiritual   power 


266  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

directed  to  its  achievement,  which  puts  the  person  and  the 
work  of  Christ  simply  beyond  all  rivalry,  and  assures  us,  if 
it  were  necessary,  of  the  substantial  reality  of  a  character 
impossible  of  invention.  But  this  purpose  to  save  a  world 
by  the  sacrifice  of  himself  is  surely  traceable  to  his  profound 
consciousness  of  God  as  involving  both  self  and  the  world. 
I  do  not  by  these  last  words  presume  to  represent  the  Saviour 
of  mankind  as  distinctly  entertaining  or  directly  teaching  any 
pantheistic  philosophy.  His  consciousness  dwelt  beyond  the 
range  of  any  mere  philosophy, — was  too  rich  in  the  possession 
of  God  to  need  it.  I  only  mean  that  he  who  felt  the  Father 
dwelling  in  him,  and  watched  the  Father  tinting  the  lilies, 
feeding  the  ravens,  sending  rain  on  the  evil  and  the  good, 
must  have  viewed  all  things  in  the  light  of  God ;  and  in 
spending  himself  upon  the  moral  elevation  of  the  w'orld,  he 
was,  as  it  were,  consciously  dissolving  self  in  God's  glory. 


WILLIAM    BATHGATE. 

[Christ  and  Man.     London:  1S65.     Pp.  2S0,  281.] 

What  we  hold  to  be  next  to  an  impossibility  in  the  life 
of  a  man  of  extraordinary  virtues,  we  hold  to  be  utterly 
impossible  in  the  life  of  Christ,  in  view  of  the  transcendent 
nature  and  measure  of  his  moral  worth.  We  hold  that 
the  acknowledged  delicacy  and  beauty  and  strength  of  the 
Redeemer's  character  was  such  —  no  matter  in  the  mean  time 
whether  you  ascribe  that  character  to  the  union  of  divinity 
and  humanity,  or  to  the  influence  of  God  on  the  human  nature 
of  Jesus — that  the  deceptions  and  aberrations  ascribed  to  him 
as  a  professed  worker  of  miracles  are  palpably  inconsistent  with 
the  supposition  of  the  reality  of  that  character.  We  could 
sooner  believe  that  the  great  orb  of  day  could  be  self-eclipsed 
at  noon  once  a  week,  than  that  such  glory  of  character  could 
belong  to  a  being  who  could  deliberately  quench  it  every  now 
and  then  in  accommodation  to  the  prejudices  of  the  age. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  267 

And  then,  on  the  supposition  that  both  Christ's  moral  worth 
and  these  aberrations  were  real,  there  must  have  been  not 
only  occasional  but  daily  incongruity  and  contradiction  in  his 
life.  He  would  need  to  keep  up  to  an  amazing  extent  a  life 
of  holiness  and  a  systematic  continuous  series  of  deceptions. 
Here  is  the  impossibility,  we  maintain,  intensified  and  enlarged 
to  the  utmost  degree.  The  professed  miracles  w^ere  daily 
things.  His  calm  assumption  that  he  was  the  Redeemer  of 
the  w^orld  w^as  a  daily  thing.  You  must  either  accept  both 
the  reality  of  the  moral  glor)^  of  his  human  life  and  the  reality 
of  the  supernatural  element  in  his  person  and  acts,  or  deny 
both.  They  were  both  true,  or  they  were  both  feigned.  The 
morality  of  the  false  assumption  is  incompatible  with  the  mo- 
rality of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Pretension  is  incompatible 
with  the  transparent  truthfulness  of  the  common  life. 


EDWARD    A.    WASHBURN. 

[Christ:  His  Nature  and  Work.    New  York:  1S7S.     Pp.  170,  172,  176,  192.J 

If  Christianity  be  the  religion  of  the  Son  of  God,  it  must 
find  its  best  proof  in  his  character.  It  is  not  the  lesser 
miracles  that  prove  him  :  it  is  he,  the  living  miracle,  who  makes 
us  believe  in  them. 

All  the  deepest  ideas  that  the  human  craves  as  the  end  of 
its  knowledge,  of  God,  of  the  conscience,  of  the  nature  of  the 
soul,  of  moral  or  social  law,  of  the  destiny  of  the  race,  are 
summed  up  in  his  teachings.  The  intellect  of  the  world  has 
acknowledged  in  him  the  highest  master  of  wisdom.  If  we 
measure  the  mind  of  Jesus  Christ  by  any  of  the  great  thinkers 
in  science  or  letters,  a  Plato  in  pure  thought,  a  Humboldt  or 
a  Shakspeare,  while  we  bow  before  their  undying  powder,  not 
one  holds  the  same  supremacy  over  the  race.  All  schools  of 
Christian  learning  have  grown  out  of  his  words.  Nay.  even 
those  who  scout  his  authority  are  witnesses  to  his  intellectual 
mastery ;   for  they  still  sound  the  same  problems  that  Chris- 


268  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

tianity  opened,  and  waste  their  wit  to  shape  a  newer  Gospel, 
yet  their  systems  wather,  and  his  word  does  not  pass  away. 

Where  is  the  most  unlettered  man,  who  can  only  read  his 
Bible  in  his  own  mother  tongue,  to  w^hom  he  does  not  give  the 
same  light  as  to  an  Augustine  or  a  Butler  in  his  library?  His 
homely  parables,  his  childlike  teachings  of  God  or  duty,  are  a 
daily  bread  of  life.  Place  by  the  side  of  Jesus  Christ  all  the 
purest  men  who  have  won  the  homage  of  the  race,  a  Confucius, 
a  Socrates,  yet  each  has  some  blemish  which  mars  his  virtue, 
and  his  highest  ofrace  has  been  a  orow^th  throup-h  struo-orle. 
Gather  all  of  Christian  name,  even  those  w^ho  came  nearest 
their  Lord,  in  the  first  age,  yet  we  know  that  human  effort  with 
God's  grace  could  make  a  John,  a  Paul,  but  not  a  Christ ;  and 
when  we  read  the  biography  of  the  saintliest  since,  a  Kempis, 
a  Fenelon,  a  Herbert,  a  Leighton,  all  are  but  single  broken  rays 
of  this  w'hite  liofht;  all  confess  themselves  sinful  men,  whose 
goodness  has  been  borrowed  from  their  perfect  Master. 

We  lead  the  doubter  forth  as  we  should  the  blind,  who 
should  tell  us  there  was  no  light  from  heaven,  and  bid  him 
feel  the  sun  in  its  mid-day  strength.  We  point  him  to  this 
living  kingdom  of  Christ,  which  cannot  pass  away,  because  it 
is  built  on  the  nature,  and  is  large  as  the  destiny,  of  mankind. 
This  is  the  evidence  of  his  reliofion.  This  is  the  book  of  the 
life  of  Christ.  It  begins  with  the  Gospel  of  his  birth.  It  is 
written  in  the  yet  unfinished  acts  of  all  apostles,  from  a  Paul 
to  an  Augustine  and  a  Luther,  who  have  taught  his  truth  ; 
from  the  batdefields  of  the  Church  to  the  least  servant  of 
the  Master  who  has  borne  his  cross  ;  from  the  library  of  the 
scholar,  the  palace,  the  prison,  the  hospital,  the  highways  and 
the  byways ;  wherever  this  divine  man  has  spoken  to  men  of 
his  Father  and  their  Father ;  wherever  he  has  healed  the 
penitent,  and  led  the  lost  back  to  the  way  of  life  ;  wherever 
he  has  lifted  the  craftsman  above  his  toil,  has  broken  the 
chain  of  the  slave,  has  made  rich  and  poor  partakers  of  one 
grace,  and  blessed  the  grave  with  this  word  of  comfort,  "  I 
am  the  resurrection,"  —  all  are  his  witnesses. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARRTJI.  269 

SUPERNATURAL    RELIGION. 

[London:  1875  (fifth edition).     Vol.  ii.  p.  4S7.] 

The  teaching  of  Jesus  carried  morality  to  the  highest 
point  attained  or  even  attainable  by  humanity.  The  influence 
of  his  spiritual  religion  has  been  rendered  doubly  great  by 
the  unparalleled  purity  and  elevation  of  his  own  character. 
Surpassing  in  his  sublime  simplicity  and  earnestness  the 
moral  grandeur  of  Sakya  Mouni,  and  putting  to  the  blush 
the  sometimes  sullied  though  generally  admirable  teaching 
of  Socrates  and  Plato,  and  the  whole  round  of  Greek 
philosophers,  he  presented  the  rare  spectacle  of  a  life,  so 
far  as  we  can  estimate  it,  uniformly  noble  and  consistent 
with  his  own  lofty  principles,  so  that  the  "  imitation  of 
Christ"  has  become  almost  the  final  word  in  the  preaching 
of  his  religion,  and  must  continue  to  be  one  of  the  most 
powerful  elements  of  its  permanence. 


THE    QUARTERLY    REVIEW. 

[July-October.     London:  1S66.     Pp.  422,  424.] 

The  character  of  the  Lord  has  undergone  a  test  which  no 
other  has  had  to  bear.  His  avowed  aspiration  was,  beyond 
measure,  great,  —  to  lead  the  Jews  into  the  kingdom  promised 
by  the  prophets,  and  to  shed  abroad  to  Gentiles,  to  the  ends 
of  the  earth,  the  things  which  God  had  prepared  for  all  alike. 
In  order  to  do  this,  the  idea  of  that  kingdom  was  purified  and 
raised.  It  was  to  be  a  kingdom,  not  of  pomp,  but  of  purity; 
not  of  earth,  but  of  heaven.  Moreover,  every  step  towards 
that  kingdom  was  associated  not  alone  with  the  teaching,  but 
also  with  the  person  of  the  Teacher.  He  was  the  example 
to  imitate,  the  expositor  of  the  law,  speaking  w^ith  authority. 
His  sufferings  and  death  were  no  private  matter,  but  con- 
cerned the  welfare  of   the  race.      The  apostles  are  our  wdt- 


270  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

nesses  of  all  this.  They  approach  this  whole  system  at  first 
with  manifest  repugnance.  We  may  well 'believe  that  they  were 
men  as  spiritually  minded,  when  Christ  called  them,  as  were  to 
be  found  amongst  the  Jews  of  their  rank,  age,  and  education. 
Yet  it  was  a  visible  kingdom  that  they  wanted  ;  and  as  for  a 
Messiah  who  should  become  their  king  by  eminence  in  humil- 
ity (so  to  speak),  and  by  love  for  all  souls  alike,  and  by 
suffering,  they  not  only  did  not  expect  such  a  one,  but  he 
inverted  all  their  expectations.  For  glory,  humbleness ;  for 
an  army,  themselves,  who  never  struck  but  one  blow  with  the 
sword,  and  then  received  a  rebuke  ;  for  a  kingdom,  judg- 
ment at  the  bar  of  Caesar's  deputy ;  for  a  throne,  the  cross 
of  death.  Their  repellant  dulness  when  these  things  were 
first  forced  on  their  belief  is  pathetic.  Nothing,  of  all 
they  tell  us  of  Christ's  plan,  was  approved  by  their  pre- 
possessions. They  were  poor  men,  but  they  had  a  great 
stake  upon  the  venture  they  had  made  ;  for  it  is  a  fearful 
thing  for  the  good  to  spend  the  one  life  that  is  given 
them  upon  a  religious  delusion.  What  do  these  witnesses 
hand  down  to  us  ?  Not  so  much  asseverations  that  Christ 
was  perfectly  holy,  as  a  general  picture  of  his  life,  which 
makes,  on  all  who  read  it,  the  impression  of  holiness. 
What  are  the  chief  elements  of  holiness  ?  Great  love,  great 
self-abandonment,  avoidance  of  evil,  even  of  the  appearance 
of  it,  and,  above  all,  a  constant  sense  of  dependence  on 
and  union  with  God,  and  a  zeal  for  the  doing  of  his  work. 
That  the  Evangelists  never  put  these  elements  together, 
but  left  us  to  do  so  for  ourselves,  adds,  if  possible,  to  the 
weight  of  their  testimony.  They  do  not  say,  "  Here  is  a 
righteous  man  ; "  but  the  facts  that  pass  under  their  pens 
produce,  in  generation  after  generation,  the  impression  of 
comi)lete  holiness. 

We  do  not  say  that  no  generation  can  produce  an  idea 
somewhat  higher  than  itself;  but  the  fate  of  all  human  inven- 
tions of  this  sort  is,  that  by  and  by  other  human  inventions 
will  surpass  them.      But  what  ideal   have   eii'hteen    centuries 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  27 1 

produced  which  has  distracted  men's  attention  from  the  Christ, 
and  drawn  them  to  some  other  object  ?  At  this  moment  the 
person  and  character  of  Jesus  is  an  object  of  even  more  inter- 
est than  it  has  ever  been  before.  And  while  the  miracles  are 
denied,  and  the  dates  of  the  Gospels  disputed,  each  writer  in 
turn  does  homage,  after  his  fashion,  to  the  moral  purity  and 
dignity  of  Christ. 

Strauss  concedes  to  him  the  "  beautiful  nature."  Renan 
calls  him  "  demi-god,"  whereat  M.  Lassure  may  well  ask,  "  Is 
God  divided?"  Channing,  a  Unitarian,  stands  before  this 
unique  character,  and,  abstracting  his  mind  from  former  im- 
pressions, tries  to  see  it  as  a  new  phenomenon,  and  feels  that 
he  is  in  the  presence  of  one  who  spake  as  never  man  spake 
before  or  since.  Schenkel  and  Keim  are  far  from  a  true  con- 
ception of  Christ,  but  both  admit  that  history  has  produced 
no  parallel.  Schenkel,  whose  book  is  marred  by  a  certain 
democratic  twang,  says  of  Jesus,  "  He  lived  in  Galilee,  he 
died  in  Jerusalem ;  but  he  lives  forever  in  the  souls  that 
attain,  through  his  word,  to  truth,  to  true  piety,  and  to  love." 
Keim,  a  writer  of  higher  strain,  and  with  more  of  a  true 
historical  spirit,  admits  that  here  is  one  whom  history  cannot 
explain,  and  that  the  person  of  Jesus  is  a  fact  unique  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

After  all  the  waves  of  criticism  shall  have  passed  over  us, 
we  feel  that  this  will  remain,  which  criticism  has  not  shaken, 
—  the  admiration  for  the  moral  perfection  of  Jesus  the  Son 
of  God.  The  person  of  Christ,  as  Schaff  has  well  said,  "  is 
the  miracle  of  history."  The  question  about  miracles  can 
afford  to  wait.  Men  are  jealous  of  interference  with  the  laws 
of  science.  Be  it  so.  Science  makes  the  mistake  of  con- 
founding the  new  with  the  impossible.  In  a  world  of  minerals, 
the  first  plant  would  be  miraculous  ;  in  a  world  of  plants,  the 
first  moving  animal.  Did  an  image  of  God's  perfection  make 
known  to  men  his  divine  presence  in  Palestine  long  ago? 
Then,  he,  rather  than  any  one  act  of  his,  is  the  miracle  which 
supersedes  the  laws  which  govern  lower  natures.     It  is  hard 


2  72  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

to  believe  that  Jesus  rose  from  the  dead ;  it  is  harder  to  believe 
that  he  said,  with  all  his  heart,  "  I  am  come  to  seek  and  to 
save  that  which  was  lost."  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor 
and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  He  himself  is 
more  surprising  than  all  that  he  appears  to  have  wrought  of 
mastery  over  material  laws. 


SAMUEL  COLCORD  BARTLETT. 

[BiRLioTHECA  Sacra.    Andover:    1868.    Vol.  xxv.  p.  179.] 

Christ  has  asserted,  is  asserting,  his  supreme  ascendency, 
his  divine  potency.  Recall  the  time  when  Augustus  sat  on 
the  throne  of  the  world,  and  Jesus  lay  in  a  Jewish  stable,  and 
ask,  where  now  is  the  Empire,  and  where  is  not  the  Church  ? 
He  who  declared,  "  I  am  the  light  of  the  world,"  has  proved 
his  words,  the  words  of  truth  and  soberness,  and  himself 
divine.  He  has  been  the  light  of  nations,  and  the  light  of 
men.  What  multitudes  of  renovated  souls  are  clinging  to  his 
work  and  person,  —  to  his  alone  !  How  he  has  gathered 
round  his  track  at  last,  all  the  high  art  and  science  and  phi- 
lanthropy, and  now  marshals  the  heavy  battalions !  How  he 
rose  over  the  Empire,  and  conquered  its  conquerors !  How 
for  fifteen  centuries  at  least,  the  nations  collided  around  the 
cross,  till  those  that  followed  the  cross  closest  now  lead  the 
world !  How  Christ  has  brought  woman  up,  and  slavery  down  ! 
How  through  ages  of  conflict,  he  has  cheered  his  friends,  and 
agitated  his  foes !  How  he  has  more  and  more  stood  forth 
into  the  centre  of  literature  and  thought,  till  all  the  scholarship 
of  Germany  starts  up  to  answer  that  stupendous  question  : 
"  What  think  ye  of  Christ?"  and  the  waves  of  that  commotion 
dash  over  the  shores  of  England  and  France,  and  spread 
across  this  Western  Continent !  And  how,  through  the  very 
jostlings  of  his  opponents,  that  loud  question  Is  now  pushing 
through  all  the  ranks  of  society,  and  knocking  at  every  man's 
door,  "  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  " 


• ,,» 


POOL  OF    BETHESDA. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  273 

HARRIET    BEECHER    STOWE. 

[New  York:  1877.     Pp.  65,  66.] 

Christ  has  been  and  now  is  beloved  as  no  other  human 
beinof  ever  was.  Others  have  been  good  men,  true  men, 
benefactors  of  their  race  ;  but  when  they  died,  their  person- 
ahty  faded  from  the  earth.  Tell  a  Hottentot  or  a  Zulu  the 
stor)^  of  Socrates,  and  it  excites  no  very  deep  emotion  ;  but 
for  eighteen  hundred  years,  Hottentots,  Zulus,  South-Sea 
Islanders,  and  savages,  —  men,  women,  and  children  in  every 
land,  with  every  variety  of  constitutional  habit,  —  have  con- 
ceived such  an  ardent,  passionate,  personal  love  for  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  that  they  have  been  ready  to  face  torture  and 
death  for  his  sake.   .   .   . 

Jesus  has  been  the  one  man  of  whom  it  has  been  possible 
to  say  to  all  people,  of  all  nations,  all  ages,  and  languages, 
"  whom  having  not  seen  ye  love;  in  whom,  though  now  ye  see 
him  not,  yet  believing  ye  rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and 
full  of  glory." 

E.    P.    BARROWS. 

[BiBLlOTHECA  Sacra.     Andover :   1870.     Vol.  xxvii.  pp.  53,  54.] 

Jesus  was  free  from  all  stoicism  or  asceticism.  He  made 
no  war  upon  the  genuine  passions  and  affections  of  humanity, 
but  subjected  them  all  to  his  higher  spiritual  nature ;  in  other 
words,  to  the  divine  law.  Except  temporarily  for  meditation 
and  prayer,  he  never  withdrew  himself,  nor  encouraged  his 
disciples  to  withdraw  themselves,  from  the  cares  and  tempta- 
tions of  active  life.  He  lived  among  men,  ate  and  drank  with 
them,  and  made  no  show  of  austerity.  His  heavenly  mind  lay 
not  in  the  renunciation  of  God's  gifts,  but  his  maintaining  his 
affections  constantly  raised  above  the  gifts  themselves  to  the 
divine  Giver.  His  heavenly  mind,  therefore,  like  all  his  other 
human  qualities,  was  inimitable,  and  is  propounded  to  all  for 


2  74  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

imitation.  His  virtues  are  not  the  virtues  of  a  king-  upon  a 
throne,  or  a  philosopher  in  his  school,  or  a  monk  in  his  cell ; 
but  of  a  man  moving  among  men  in  the  sphere  of  common 
life,  and  filling  out  common  life  with  all  the  duties  appropriate 
to  it.  They  are  therefore  available  for  the  imitation  of  all 
classes  of  men.  We  may  boldly  affirm  that  such  a  character 
as  that  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  could  never  have  been  conceived 
of,  had  it  never  actually  existed. 


JAMES    HENRY    THORNWELL. 

[Collected  Writings.     Richmond:   1871.     P.  422.] 

These  two  elements,  love  to  God  and  love  to  man,  which 
the  death  of  Jesus,  considered  as  a  sacrifice,  expresses,  consti- 
tute the  essence  of  virtue.  They  are  the  principles  into 
which  every  form  of  moral  excellence  may  be  ultimately 
resolved. 

The  extent  to  which  they  pervade  the  character,  and  regu- 
late the  life,  determines  the  moral  worth  of  the  possessor. 
This  degree  is  ascertained  by  the  severity  of  the  trials  to 
which  they  are  exposed.  In  the  sacrifice  of  Jesus,  therefore, 
we  are  to  look  for  the  measure  of  the  intensity  of  his  princi- 
ples. We  are  to  study  his  character  in  the  light  of  sufterings. 
We  are  to  learn  how  much  he  loved  God,  and  how  much  he 
pitied  man,  from  the  cost  of  his  piety  and  philanthropy  to  his 
own  soul.     Tried  by  this  standard,  he  stands  without  a  rival. 


R.    BOS\A^ORTH    SMITH. 

[Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism.     London:   1S74.     P.  187.] 

Mohammedanism,  in  spite   of  centuries  of  wars  and  mis 
understandings,  looks  back  upon  the  founder  of  our  religion 
with  reverence  only  less  than  that  with  which  the  most  devout 
Christians  regard  him. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  275 

So  far  from  its  being  true,  as  is  commonly  supposed,  that 
Mohammedans  regard  Christ  as  Christians  have  too  often 
regarded  Mohammed,  with  hatred  and  contempt,  Sir  Wilham 
Muir  remarks  that  devout  Mussulmans  never  mention  the 
name  Seyeddna  Eesa,  or  our  Lord  Jesus,  without  adding  the 
words  "  on  whom  be  peace."  The  highest  honor  that  a 
Mussulman  can  conceive  is  given  to  Christ  in  the  grave 
reserved  to  him  by  the  side  of  the  Prophet  himself  in  the 
great  mosque  at  Medina.  Mohammedans  expect  that  he  will 
one  day  return  to  earth,  and,  having  slain  Antichrist,  will 
establish  perfect  peace  among  men. 


FREDERIC  HENRY    HEDGE. 

[The  Atonement.     Boston:   1867.     Pp.  7-9.] 

Jesus  is  the  hero  of  all  times  and  climes.  So  long  as  the 
Christian  world  endures,  his  name  will  be  the  centre  of  his- 
tory, and  his  sacrifice  will  draw  all  men  to  him.  The  relation 
which  other  martyrs  bear  to  us  personally  is  distant  and  faint. 
We  honor  the  virtues  they  displayed  ;  we  acknowledge  the 
good  they  accomplished  ;  but  it  is  only  indirectly  and  by  infer- 
ence that  we  feel  ourselves  personally  indebted  to  their  lives 
and  deaths.  But  the  Christian  believer  feels  towards  Jesus 
a  personal  obligation,  as  if  the  Saviour  of  the  world  had  had 
him  distinctly  in  view,  and  had  suffered  with  special  reference 
to  him,  as  one  who  should  be  benefited  by  his  ministry  and 
death.  To  the  believing  Christian,  he  is  nearer  than  any 
character  in  history  is  or  can  be.  We  are  bound  with  him 
in  one  bond,  leagued  in  one  interest,  and  that  the  central 
interest  of  human  life. 

Nowhere  but  in  Jesus  has  our  nature  reached  so  ostensibly 
its  true  perfection  ;  and,  but  for  him,  we  had  not  known  what 
that  nature  is  in  its  possibility  and  its  calling,  its  highest  and 
deepest  capacity  and  strength.  Many  wise  and  good  men 
have  blessed  the  world  with  their  living  and  with  their  dying; 


276  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

heroes  have  poured  their  Hves  on  the  battlefield,  a  free  liba- 
tion for  their  country's  good  ;  confessors  have  given  their 
bodies  to  be  burned,  a  willing  sacrifice  to  truth  ;  sages  have 
received,  in  the  solitude  of  their  prisons,  the  cup  of  death  : 
but  nowhere,  as  in  him,  has  divinity  incarnated  itself.  There 
is  none  in  whom  the  idea  is  so  discriminated  from  earthly 
circumstance,  so  lifted  out  of  its  environment  and  brought  so 
near  to  us,  as  in  Christ.  In  him  we  behold,  as  in  a  mirror, 
what  manner  of  beings  we  are  and  behoove  to  be,  our  actual 
and  possible  self. 

In  his  virtues  we  behold  our  defects  ;  in  his  greatness,  our 
littleness ;  our  weakness  in  his  streno;th.  At  the  same  time, 
the  qualities  which  shine  forth  in  him  reveal  to  us  an  inner 
man,  a  Christ  yet  unformed  in  the  depths  of  the  soul,  which 
the  contemplation  of  that  historical  Christ  is  fitted  to  unfold. 
Thus  he,  in  his  moral  elevation,  draws  after  him  all  who, 
"  beholding,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory." 


THE   ECLECTIC    REVIEW. 

[July-December.     London:   1864.     Pp.  145,  146,  150,  151.] 

The  greatest  miracle  of  Christianity  is  Christ  himself. 
This  was  always  true,  and  every  effort  made  to  account  for 
this  stupendous  mystery  of  humanity  only  makes  the  miracle 
more  distinct.  Criticism,  before  the  life  of  Christ,  is  simply 
foiled.  The  critic  did  not  intend  it  so  ;  but  not  the  less  have 
his  cold-blooded  achievements  turned  into  acts  of  admiration 
and  hymns  of  praise.  Humanly  Christ  will  not  be  accounted 
for.  His  presence  on  the  earth,  both  in  the  history  of  his 
own  person,  in  the  history  of  opinions  about  himself,  and  the 
history  of  his  Church,  increases  in  marvellousness  the  more 
intently  the  circumstances  are  surveyed.  In  the  present  day 
it  is  increasingly  felt  that  all  religious  controversies  are  con- 
verging more  and  more  daily  around  the  person   of  Christ, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  277 

—  all  questions  relating  to  man's  religious  nature,  his  hopes, 
his  future  life  and  destinies,  the  subtlest  form  of  modern 
heresy  and  speculation.  Round  the  still  and  beautiful  form 
of  the  world's  Redeemer,  rage  the  fiercest  conflicts  of  the 
great  casuists  of  the  age.  In  our  own  time,  almost  every 
form  of  intellectual  strife,  waged  since  the  Master  ascended, 
finds  itself  renewed.  The  press  abundantly  shows  that  cold, 
critical,  sceptical  intelligences  can  no  more  let  alone  the  name, 
the  history,  and  the  work  of  him  who  is  to  us  the  Son  of 
Mary  and  the  Son  of  God,  than  can  his  most  devoted  disci- 
ples. Every  few  years  beholds  some  bold  unbeliever,  leading 
on  some  new  regiment,  displaying  some  new  banner  as  a 
forlorn  hope,  attempting  to  scale  the  citadel  we  may  well 
call  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Around  that  rock,  in  all  directions, 
lie  the  graveyards  of  heretics  and  unbelievers  of  nearly  two 
thousand  years  ;  and  amidst  the  crowd  of  graves  and  "  bones 
with  us  unto  this  day,"  here  and  there  a  solitary  tombstone 
recording  the  epitaph  and  the  opinions  of  some  one  more 
bold  or  presumptuous  than  the  crowd  of  annihilated  comrades 
around  him.  It  has  been  all  in  vain.  Millions  of  arrows 
have  been  hurled  against  that  rock ;  if  they  have  touched 
it,  they  have  fallen  harmlessly  at  its  side.  The  arrow  which 
strained  all  the  strength  of  the  marksmen  has  left  its  object 
unhurt.  The  greatest  miracle  of  all  time,  we  say,  the  great- 
est miracle  of  Christianity  especially,  is  Christ  himself. 

Let  every  other  miracle  reported  of  the  Christian  system 
be  disproved,  and  there  still  remains  this,  —  that  Christ  has 
furnished  such  infinite  thouofht  to  men,  such  infinite  refresh- 
ment.  He  is  not  a  past  tense,  even  yet.  He  who  enchains 
cities,  monarchies,  and  empires,  whom  kings  and  queens 
followed  through  forests,  thorns,  and  rocks,  forsaking  even 
themselves  for  him,  whom  millions  of  souls  have  loved,  and 
those  most  who  were  the  most  wise  and  tender  and  thought- 
ful and  pure,  even  to  the  suffering  of  flames,  and  the  disloca- 
tion of  bones,  —  he  has  so  wrouo-ht  himself  into  the  life  and 
experience  of  the  world,  that  millions  of  cathedrals,  churches. 


278  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

and  chapels  have  been  reared  to  Ian  the  flames  of  affection 
to  him.  The  aid  of  science  and  the  fine  arts,  of  sculpture 
and  of  painting,  have  been  called  to  perpetuate  love  to  him, 
devotion  celebrating  and  symbolizing  it  in  a  thousand  ways ; 
him,  seen  and  believed  in  monuments,  on  mountain  summits, 
and  by  the  roadsides,  in  cemeteries,  in  words  by  the  beds  of 
the  dying,  in  crosses  on  the  crowns  of  kings,  on  the  breasts 
of  soldiers,  on  the  bosoms  of  Christian  maidens,  —  so  accom- 
plishing those  wonderful  words,  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw 
all  men  unto  me."  Such  recollections  and  thoughts  as  these 
prevent  any  escape  from  the  conclusion,  —  let  scepticism  and 
criticism  do  what  they  will,  —  tJie  greatest  miracle  in  Chris- 
tianity is  Christ  himself. 


NEWMAN    HALL. 

[Sermons.     New  York  :   1868.     P.  11.] 

There  is  no  bond  of  union  like  that  which  unites  us  to 
Christ.  No  attraction  draws  us  so  near  to  each  other  as  that 
which  draws  us  all  to  the  cross.  Stronger  than  diplomacy, 
more  convincino;  than  aro^ument,  a  common  love  for  the 
Gospel,  a  common  zeal  in  making  it  known,  a  common  loyalty 
towards  our  one  common  Brother,  Saviour,  Lord,  will  do  more 
to  preserve  our  two  nations  in  concord  than  all  the  arts  of 
self-interested  politicians  can  avail  to  stir  them  up  to  mutual 
strife. 

For  the  sake  of  that  international  union  which  is  so  essen- 
tial to  the  prosperity  of  both  .countries  and  to  the  welfare 
of  the  world,  as  well  as  for  the  interest  of  the  souls  of  men 
and  the  glory  of  Christ,  let  us,  both  in  America  and  Great 
Britain,  maintain,  in  all  its  beautiful  simplicity,  the  cardinal 
doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified  ;  the  great  object 
ol  |jreaching,  the  great  work  of  all  the  churches,  being  to 
make  known  his  name,  and  to  secure  for  him  the  loving 
homage  of  all  hearts. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  279 

GOLDWIN    SMITH. 

[Lectures  on  the  Study  of  History.     Oxford:   1865.     Pp.  133-141.] 

Christianity  rests  on  one  moral  fundamental  principle,  as 
the  complete  basis  of  perfect  moral  character ;  that  principle 
being  the  love  of  our  neighbor,  another  name  for  benevo- 
lence. And  the  type  of  character  set  forth  in  the  Gospel 
history  is  an  absolute  embodiment  of  love  both  in  the  way 
of  action  and  affection,  crowned  by  the  highest  possible 
exhibition  of  it  in  an  act  of  the  most  transcendent  self- 
devotion  to  the  interests  of  the  human  race.  This  being  the 
case,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  Christian  morality  can  ever 
be  brought  into  antagonism  with  the  moral  progress  of  man- 
kind ;  or  how  the  Christian  type  of  character  can  ever  be 
left  behind  by  the  course  of  human  development,  lose  the 
allegiance  of  the  moral  world,  or  give  place  to  a  newly-emer- 
ging and  higher  ideal.  This  type,  it  would  appear,  being 
perfect,  will  be  final.  It  will  be  final,  not  as  precluding  future 
history,  but  as  comprehending  it.  The  moral  efforts  of  all 
ages,  to  the  consummation  of  the  world,  will  be  efforts  to 
realize  this  character,  and  to  make  it  actually,  as  it  is  poten- 
tially, universal.  While  these  efforts  are  being  carried  on 
under  all  the  various  circumstances  of  life  and  society,  and 
under  all  the  various  moral  and  intellectual  conditions  attach- 
ing to  particular  men,  an  infinite  variety  of  characters,  per- 
sonal and  national,  will  be  produced  ;  a  variety  ranging  from 
the  highest  human  grandeur  down  to  the  very  verge  of  the 
grotesque.  But  these  characters,  with  all  their  variations, 
will  go  beyond  their  source  and  their  ideal,  only  as  the  rays 
of  light  go  beyond  the  sun.  Humanity,  as  it  passes  through 
phase  after  phase  of  the  historical  movement,  may  advance 
indefinitely  in  excellence  ;  but  its  advance  will  be  an  indefi- 
nite approximation  to  the  Christian  type.  A  divergence  from 
that  type,  to  whatever  extent  it  may  take  place,  would  not  be 
progress,  but  debasement  and  corruption.      In  a  moral  point 


28o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

of  view,  in  short,  the  world, may  abandon  Christianity,  but 
it  can  never  advance  beyond  it.  This  is  not  a  matter  of 
authority,  or  even  of  revelation.  If  it  is  true,  it  is  a  matter 
of  reason  as  much  as  any  thing  in  the  world. 

There  are  many  peculiarities,  arising  out  of  personal  and 
historical  circumstances,  which  are  incident  to  the  best  human 
characters,  and  which  would  prevent  any  one  of  them  from 
being  universal  or  final  as  a  type.  But  the  type  set  up  in 
the  Gospels  as  the  Christian  type  seems  to  have  escaped  all 
these  peculiarities,  and  to  stand  out  in  unapproached  purity  as 
well  as  in  unapproached  perfection  of  moral  excellence. 

The  good  moral  characters  which  we  see  among  men  fall, 
speaking  broadly,  into  two  general  classes,  —  those  which  excite 
our  reverence,  and  those  which  excite  our  love.  These  two 
classes  are  essentially  identical ;  since  the  object  of  our  rever- 
ence is  that  elevation  above  selfish  objects,  that  dignity, 
majesty,  nobleness,  appearance  of  moral  strength,  which  is 
produced  by  a  disregard  of  selfish  objects  in  comparison  with 
those  which  are  of  a  less  selfish,  and  therefore  of  a  grander, 
kind.  But,  though  essentially  identical,  they  form,  as  it  were, 
two  hemispheres  in  the  actual  world  of  moral  excellence, 
—  the  noble  and  the  amiable,  or,  in  the  language  of  moral 
taste,  the  grand  and  the  beautiful.  Being,  however,  essen- 
tially identical,  they  constantly  tend  to  fusion  in  the  human 
characters  which  are  nearest  to  perfection,  though,  no 
human  character  being  perfect,  they  are  never  actually  fused. 
Now,  if  the  type  proposed  in  the  Gospels  for  our  imitation 
were  characteristically  noble  or  characteristically  amiable, 
characteristically  grand  or  characteristically  beautiful,  it  might 
have  great  moral  attractions,  but  it  would  not  be  universal 
or  final.  It  would  belong  to  one  peculiar  hemisphere  of 
character,  and  even  though  man  might  not  yet  actually  have 
transcended  it,  the  ideal  would  lie  beyond  it  ;  it  would  not 
remain  forever  the  mark  and  goal  of  our  moral  progress. 
But  the  fact  is,  it  is  neither  characteristically  noble  and  grand, 
nor  characteristically  amiable  and  beautiful  ;   but  both   in   an 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  281 

equal  degree,  perfectly  and  indistinguishably,  the  fusion  of 
the  two  classes  of  qualities  being  complete,  so  that  the  mental 
eye,  though  it  be  strained  to  aching,  cannot  discern  whether 
that  on  which  it  gazes  be  more  the  object  of  reverence  or  of 
love. 

There  are  differences,  again,  between  the  male  and  the 
female  character,  under  w^hich,  nevertheless,  we  divine  that 
there  lies  a  real  identity,  and  a  consequent  tendency  to  fusion 
in  the  ultimate  ideal.  Had  the  Gospel  type  of  character  been 
stamped  with  the  peculiar  marks  of  either  sex,  we  should 
have  felt  that  there  was  an  ideal  free  from  those  peculiarities 
beyond  it.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  It  exhibits,  indeed,  the 
peculiarly  male  virtue  of  courage  in  the  highest  degree,  and 
in  the  form  in  which  it  is  most  clear  of  mere  animal  impetu- 
osity, and  most  evidently  a  virtue  ;  but  this  form  is  the  one 
common  to  both  sexes,  as  the  annals  of  martyrdom  prove. 

There  is  an  equally  notable  absence  of  any  of  the  peculiar- 
ities which  attend  particular  callings  and  modes  of  life,  and 
which,  though  so  inevitable  under  the  circumstances  of  human 
society  that  we  have  learnt  to  think  them  beauties,  would 
disqualify  a  character  for  being  universal  and  the  ideal.  The 
life  depicted  in  the  Gospel  is  one  of  pure  beneficence, 
disengaged  from  all  peculiar  social  circumstances,  yet  adapted 
to  all. 

The  Christian  type  of  character,  if  it  was  constructed  by 
human  intellect,  was  constructed  at  the  confluence  of  three 
races,  —  the  Jewish,  the  Greek,  and  the  Roman,  —  each  of 
which  had  strong  national  peculiarities  of  its  own,  A  single 
touch,  a  single  taint  of  any  one  of  those  peculiarities,  and 
the  character  would  have  been  national,  not  universal ;  tran- 
sient, not  eternal :  it  might  have  been  the  highest  character 
in  history,  but  it  would  have  been  disqualified  for  being  the 
ideal.  Supposing  it  to  have  been  human,  whether  it  were 
the  effort  of  a  real  man  to  attain  moral  excellence,  or  a  moral 
imagination  of  the  writers  of  the  Gospel,  the  chances  surely 
were  infinite  against  escaping  any  tincture  of  the  fanaticism. 


282  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

formalism,  and  exclusiveness  of  the  Jew,  of  the  pohtical  pride 
of  the  Roman,  of  the  intellectual  pride  of  the  Greek.  Yet 
it  has  entirely  escaped  them  all. 

There  are  certain  qualities  which  are  not  virtues  in  them- 
selves, but  are  made  virtues  by  time  and  circumstance,  and 
with  their  times  and  circumstances  pass  away ;  yet,  while  they 
last,  are  often  naturally  and  almost  necessarily  esteemed  above 
those  virtues  which  are  most  real  and  universal.  These  facti- 
tious virtues  are  the  offspring,  for  the  most  part,  of  early 
states  of  society,  and  the  attendant  narrowness  of  moral  vision. 
Such  was  headlong  valor  among  the  Northmen.  Such  was, 
and  is,  punctilious  hospitality  among  the  tribes  of  the  desert. 
Such  was  the  fanatical  patriotism  among  the  ancients,  which 
remained  a  virtue  while  the  nation  remained  the  largest  sphere 
of  moral  sympathy  known  to  man,  his  vision  not  yet  having 
embraced  his  kind. 

The  taint  of  one  of  these  factitious  and  temporary  virtues 
would,  in  the  eye  of  historical  philosophy,  have  been  as  fatal 
to  the  perfection  and  universality  of  a  type  of  character,  as 
the  taint  of  a  positive  vice.  Not  only  the  fellow-countrymen, 
but  the  companions  and  apostles  of  Christ,  were,  by  the 
account  of  the  Gospels,  imbued  with  that  Jewish  patriotism, 
the  fanatical  intensity  of  which  disgusted  even  the  ancient 
world.  They  desired  to  convert  their  Master  into  a  patriot 
chief,  and  to  turn  his  universal  mission  into  one  for  the 
peculiar  benefit  of  his  own  race.  Had  they  succeeded  in 
doing  so,  even  in  the  slightest  degree,  —  or,  to  take  a  different 
hypothesis,  had  those  who  constructed  the  mythical  character 
of  Christ  admitted  into  it  the  slightest  tinge  of  a  quality  which 
they  could  hardly,  without  a  miracle,  distinguish  from  a  real 
virtue,  —  the  time  would  have  arrived  when,  the  vision  of 
man  being  enlarged,  and  his  affection  for  his  country  becom- 
ing subordinate  to  his  affection  for  his  kind,  the  Christian 
type  would  have  grown  antiquated,  and  would  have  been  left 
behind  in  the  progress  of  history  towards  a  higher  and  ampler 
ideal.      Hut  such  is  n(H  the  case.     A  just  affection  for  country 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  283 

may  indeed  find  its  prototype  in  him  who  wept  over  the 
impending  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  and  who  offered  the 
Gospel  first  to  the  Jew  ;  but  his  character  stands  clear  of 
the  narrow  partiality  which  it  is  the  tendency  of  advancing- 
civilization  to  discard.  From  exaggerated  patriotism  and  from 
exaggerated  cosmopolitanism,  the  Christian  Example  is  equally 
free. 

Asceticism,  again,  if  it  has  never  been  a  virtue,  even  under 
exceptional  circumstances,  is  very  easily  mistaken  for  one,  and 
has  been  almost  universally  mistaken  for  one  in  the  East. 
There  are  certain  states  of  society,  —  such,  for  example,  as 
that  which  the  Western  monks  were  called  upon  to  evangelize 
and  civilize  by  their  exertions,  —  in  which  it  is  difficult  to  deny 
the  usefulness  and  merit  of  an  ascetic  life.  But  had  the  type 
of  character  set  before  us  in  the  Gospel  been  ascetic,  our  social 
experience  must  have  discarded  it  in  the  long-run,  as  our 
moral  experience  would  have  discarded  it  in  the  long-run,  had 
it  been  connected  with  those  formal  observances  into  the  con- 
secration of  which  asceticism  almost  inevitably  falls.  But  the 
type  of  character  set  before  us  in  the  Gospels  is  not  ascetic, 
though  it  is  the  highest  exhibition  of  self-denial.  Nor  is  it 
connected  with  formal  observances,  though,  for  reasons  which 
are  of  universal  and  permanent  validity,  it  provisionally  conde- 
scends to  the  observances  established  in  the  Jewish  Church. 
The  character  of  the  Essenes,  as  painted  by  Josephus.  which 
seems  to  out-vie  the  Christian  character  in  purity  and  self- 
denial,  is  tainted  both  with  asceticism  and  formalism;  and, 
though  a  lofty  and  pure  conception,  could  not  have  been 
accepted  by  man  as  permanent  and  universal. 

Cast  your  eyes  over  the  human  characters  of  history,  and 
observe  to  how  great  an  extent  the  most  soaring  and  eccentric 
of  them  are  the  creatures  of  their  country  and  their  age. 
Examine  the  most  poetic  of  human  visions,  and  mark  how 
closely  they  are  connected,  either  by  way  of  direct  emanation  or 
of  re- action,  with  the  political  and  social  circumstances  amidst 
which  they  were  conceived  ;   and  how  manifestly  the  Utopia  of 


284  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Plato  is  an  emanation  from  the  Spartan  Commonwealth,  how 
manifestly  the  Utopia  of  Rousseau  is  a  re-action  against  the 
artificial  society  of  Paris.  What  likelihood,  then,  was  there, 
that  the  imagination  of  a  peasant  of  Galilee  would  spring  at  a 
bound  beyond  place  and  time,  and  create  a  type  of  character 
perfectly  distinct  in  its  personality,  yet  entirely  free  from  all 
that  entered  into  the  special  personalities  of  the  age  ;  a  type 
which  satisfies  us  as  entirely  as  it  satisfied  him,  and  which,  as 
far  as  we  can  see  or  imagine,  will  satisfy  all  men  to  the  end  of 
time  ? 


EUGENE    BERSIER. 

[Catholic  Presbyterian.     London  and  New  York :   1882.     Pp.  i,  2.] 

In  the  first  century  of  our  era,  there  lived  a  prophet  who 
enjoyed  an  immense  popularity,  a  man  who  played  such  an 
important  part  that  the  historian  Josephus,  who  seems  scarcely 
to  have  known  Jesus  Christ,  has  to  him,  on  the  contrary, 
accorded  an  important  place.  This  man  was  John  the  Baptist, 
whom  Jews  and  Christians  have  equally  revered.  Neverthe- 
less, we  do  not  find  that  the  Gospels  ever  attribute  any  miracle 
to  John.  They  picture,  in  a  clear  and  vivid  way,  his  ministry, 
his  preaching,  and  his  death,  without  inserting  a  single  touch 
of  the  supernatural  ;  thus  proving  that  they  are  able  to  con- 
ceive of  an  authentic  Divine  mission  without  attaching  to  it 
any  miracle.  But  when  they  come  to  Jesus,  it  is  quite  another 
matter ;  and  on  every  one  of  their  pages,  we  find  ourselves 
face  to  face  with  actions  which  imply  a  power  actually  super- 
human. 

Does  this  mean  that  their  style  is  altered,  that  their  narra- 
tives thenceforward  become  less  exact,  more  obscure,  niore 
legendary,  and  give  fewer  indications  of  being  the  product  of 
witnesses  who  have  seen  and  heard  what  they  relate  ?  0\\ 
the  contrary,  these  same  Gospels  portray  Jesus,  his  character, 
his  conduct,  and  his  teaching,  in  so  vivid,  so  original,  and  so 
powerful  a  maiuu^r.  that  the  picture  has  survived  the  changes 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  285 

of  centuries.  They  preserve  his  words  in  such  grandeur  that 
their  authenticity  impresses  itself  on  every  mind  not  bhnded 
by  invincible  prejudices.  Every  one  feels  that  those  deep 
and  searching  maxims,  those  answers  which  probe  the  matter 
to  the  bottom,  those  parables  which  are  so  clear  and  won- 
drously  original,  and  those  other  powerful  discourses  of  his, 
were  really  uttered,  and  have  been  faithfully  reproduced. 


JOHANN    WOLFANG   von   GOETHE. 

[Conversations  with  Eckermann.     London:  1S74.     Pp.  567-569.] 

I  LOOK  upon  all  the  Four  Gospels  as  thoroughly  genuine ; 
for  there  is  in  them  the  reflection  of  a  greatness  which  ema- 
nated from  the  person  of  Jesus,  and  which  was  as  divine  a 
kind  as  ever  was  seen  upon  earth.  If  I  am  asked  whether  it 
is  in  my  nature  to  pay  him  devout  reverence,  I  say.  Certainly. 
I  bow  before  him  as  the  divine  manifestation  of  the  highest 
principle  of  morality.   .   .   . 

We  have,  in  consequence  of  our  increasing  culture,  become 
capable  of  turning  back  to  the  fountain-head,  and  of  compre- 
hending Christianity  in  its  purity.  We  have,  again,  the 
courage  to  stand  with  firm  feet  upon  God's  earth,  and  to  feel 
ourselves  in  our  divinely  endowed  human  nature.  Let  mental 
culture  go  on  advancing,  let  the  natural  sciences  go  on  gaining 
in  depth  and  breadth,  and  the  human  mind  expand  as  it  may, 
it  will  never  go  beyond  the  elevation  and  moral  culture  of 
Christianity,  as  it  glistens  and  shines  forth  in  the  Gospel.  .  .  . 

As  soon  as  the  pure  doctrine  and  love  of  Christ  are  com- 
prehended in  their  true  nature,  and  have  become  a  vital  prin- 
ciple, we  shall  feel  ourselves  as  human  beings,  great  and  free, 
and  not  attach  especial  importance  to  a  degree  more  or  less 
in  the  outward  forms  of  religion.  Besides,  we  shall  all 
gradually  advance  from  a  Christianity  of  words  and  faith  to  a 
Christianity  of  feeling  and  action. 


286  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

DAVID   FRIEDRICH    STRAUSS.' 

[The  Permanent  and  the  Transient  in  Christianity:  Essay.     1S3S.     P.  47.] 

If  in  Jesus  the  union  of  the  self-consciousness  with  the 
consciousness  of  God  has  been  real,  and  expressed  not  only 
in  words,  but  actually  revealed  in  all  the  conditions  of  his  life, 
he  represents  within  the  religious  sphere  the  highest  point, 
beyond  whom  posterity  cannot  go  ;  yea,  whom  it  cannot  even 
equal,  inasmuch  as  every  one  hereafter  who  should  climb  the 
same  height,  could  only  do  it  with  the  aid  of  Jesus,  who  first 
attained  it.  As  little  as  humanity  will  ever  be  without  religion, 
as  little  would  it  be  without  Christ ;  for  to  have  religion  with- 
out Christ,  would  be  as  absurd  as  to  enjoy  poetry  without 
regard  to  Homer  or  Shakspeare.  And  this  Christ,  as  far  as 
he  is  inseparable  from  the  highest  style  of  religion,  is  histori- 
cal, not  mythical ;  is  an  individual,  no  mere  symbol.  To  the 
historical  person  of  Christ  belongs  all  in  his  life  that  exhibits 
his  religious  perfection,  his  discourses,  his  moral  action,  and 
his  passion.  .  .  .  He  remains  the  highest  model  of  religion 
within  the  reach  of  our  thought,  and  no  perfect  piety  is 
possible  without  his  presence  in  the  heart. 


DANIEL    SMITH    TALCOTT. 

[Christianity  and  Scepticism.     Boston:  1871.     Pp.  414,  416,  417.] 

Nonp:  will  imagine  that  Jesus  could  have  borrowed  any 
thing  from  Confucius  or  Sakya-Mouni  or  the  Greek  philoso- 
phers. Even  if  it  could  be  shown  that  all  that  is  essential  to 
the  moral  system  of  Jesus  maybe  found  in  scattered  fragments 
here  and  there  among  the  sayings  ascribed  to  other  teachers, 
who  in  previous  ages  and  far-off  nations  had  made  extraor- 
dinary use  of  that  inward  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that 
cometh  into  the  world,  this  would  not  detract  any  thing  from 

'  <^)ii(jicil  l)y  Dr.  Philip  Schaff  in  his  "  Person  of  (."hrist." 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  i^'j 

the  claim  of  him  who  alone  has  embodied  the  sum  of  human 
duty,  and  still  more  grandly  alone  has  exemplified  it  in  his 
life. 

If  ever  there  was  a  sound  human  intellect,  clear,  well- 
balanced,  and  raised  above  every  inOuence  that  could  disturb 
or  cloud  its  operation,  it  was  the  intellect  displayed  in  the 
recorded  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  The  only  alternative  that 
remains  to  us  is,  either  to  accept  him  for  what  he  declares 
himself  to  be,  or  to  ascribe  to  him,  without  any  qualification, 
the  boldest,  the  most  arrogant,  the  most  blasphemous  of  all 
impostures,  yet  an  imposture  steadily  devoted  to  the  promo- 
tion of  the  highest  style  of  goodness,  and  connected  with  a 
life,  which,  except  upon  this  revolting  supposition,  is  a  life  of 
sinless  perfection,  and  the  only  such  life  that  has  ever  been 
lived  upon  the  earth. 

In  whatever  part  of  the  world  the  words  of  Jesus  have 
been  made  known,  there  have  always  been  found  hearts  ready 
to  receive  them ;  and  to  them  they  have  become  the  medium 
of  a  new  life.  A  new  style  of  character  has  come  into  exist- 
ence, —  a  character  to  which  nothing  more  than  a  distant 
approximation  has  ever  been  witnessed  in  lands  unvisited  by 
revelation. 


TRUMAN    M.    POST.  . 

[Christianity  and  Scepticism.     Boston:  1871.     Pp.  140,  142.] 

When,  in  Jesus  Christ,  God  had  revealed  himself  in  a 
human  person  and  a  human  life,  a  new  and  wondrous  moral 
power  is  clearly  recognized  by  history  as  entering  the  circle 
of  human  affairs.  The  charm  of  the  divine  beauty  touched 
the  heart  of  the  world,  A  reformative  and  new-created 
energy  pulsated  throughout  it,  from  the  depths  to  the  heights. 
This  pulse  still  beats  down  the  centuries,  ever  fresh  and  young. 
The  outward  aspects  of  the  world  have  changed  ;  political  and 
social  systems  have  come  and  gone  ;  empires  and  civilizations 
have  passed  away :    but    the  vitalizing  moral    impulse  then 


288  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

communicated  is  still  undecayed  and  unconfined.  It  has  been 
entangled  and  hindered  by  many  alien  forces  ;  often  mixed 
up  and  disguised  with  foreign  elements ;  often  confounded 
with  dogmas  which  have  grown  obsolete ;  with  modes  of 
thought,  feeling,  and  action  that  were  adscititious,  and  have 
fallen  away  from  the  substantive  essence.  But  the  moral 
life-power  that  entered  the  world  with  Jesus  Christ  still  lives, 
and  still  energizes  more  widely  and  more  mightily,  in  more 
human  interests  and  human  souls,  than  at  any  period  since 
the  resurrection  of  Christ.  On  it  is  no  mould  of  age,  no  taint 
of  decay. 

The  voice  that  inaugurated  it  eighteen  centuries  ago  on 
the  hills  of  Judaea,  as  ushering  in  an  era  of  peace  and  good- 
will to  men,  has  since  expanded  on  earth,  as  it  did  then  in  the 
heavens,  to  the  psalm  of  an  innumerable  host,  an  orchestral 
symphony  of  nations  and  ages,  richer  as  it  rolls  along  with 
new-born  truths  and  sciences  and  charities  swelling  its  choral 
volume.  It  is  obvious,  that,  whatever  else  may  become  things 
of  the  letter  and  pass  away,  the  vision  of  the  personal  God 
in  Christ,  with  its  transfiguring  charm,  cannot  perish  from 
humanity  without  the  perishing  of  the  moral  structure  of  the 
modern  world. 

STANLEY    LEATHES. 

[The  Religion  of  Christ.     London:   1874.     Pp.  46,  347,  348.] 

The  person  of  Christ,  the  character  of  Christ,  the  teachings 
of  Christ,  must  ever  be  the  highest  evidence  of  him.  If  that 
evidence  is  not  accepted  as  in  the  highest  sense  miraculous, 
in  the  truest  sense  divine,  no  miracle  can  suffice  to  prove  his 
mission  ;  but  it  may  be  that  the  truth  of  his  spoken  words 
implies  also  the  truth  of  his  accomplished  works  ;  and,  if  so, 
we  cannot  truly  accept  him  without  accepting  also  the  message 
of  his  works. 

The  centre  of  Pauline  teaching  was  Jesus ;  but  the  centre 
of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  was  himself,  and  every  estimate  of  his 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  289 

character  is  inadequate  which  does  not  recognize  this  fact. 
If,  therefore,  we  cannot  have  the  complete  conception  of  the 
Christ  character  without  the  human  hfe  of  Jesus,  so  neither 
can  we  have  any  adequate  or  just  notion  of  the  personal  life 
of  Jesus  without  the  essential  elements  of  the  Christ  character 
combined  with  it.  Who  was  Jesus  if  he  was  not  the  Christ  ? 
We  are  at  a  loss  to  determine.  He  was  an  anomaly  in  human 
history:  standing  out  in  remarkable  relation  to  the  ancient 
literature  and  history  of  his  people,  but  having  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  and  assuredly  not  produced  b)-  it ;  shedding  marvel- 
lous light  on  all  other  times  and  histories,  but  himself  dwelling 
in  darkness  ;  undeniably  the  centre  and  source  of  a  unique 
collection  of  writings,  to  which  there  is  no  approximate 
parallel  in  literature,  but  presenting  in  his  own  character  the 
strongest  possible  contrast  to  the  acknowledged  tendency  of 
those  writinp;s,  because  himself  indifferent  to  truth  as  a  first 
requisite  of  virtue.  If  Jesus  was  not  what  the  Gospels,  Acts, 
and  Epistles  agree  in  confessing  him  to  have  been,  we  not 
only  are  not 'able  to  say  what  he  was,  but  are  at  a  loss  to 
account  for  their  existence  as  the  actual  product  of  the  belief 
that  he  was  the  Christ.  On  the  assumption  that  their 
combined  testimony  is  true,  his  character  becomes  at  once 
consistent  and  intelligible,  and  their  existence  is  explained. 
They  are  the  substantial  and  permanent  bequest  of  him  who 
was  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Testament.  They  are  the 
abiding  proof  of  the  reality  and  fulfilment  of  the  promise  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  which  he  made  to  his  disciples. 


CHARLES    DICKENS. 

[Last  Will  and  Testament.] 

I  COMMIT  my  soul  to  the  mercy  of  God,  through  our  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  exhort  my  dear  children 
humbly  to  try  to  guide  themselves  by  the  teachings  of  the 
New  Testament. 


290  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


FREDERICK    W.    FARRAR. 

[The  Life  of  Chrisf.     New  York  :   iSSo  (American  edition).     Vol.  i.  chs.  v.,  x.,  xii., 

xviii. ;  vol.  ii.   i.xi.| 

It  is  surely  an  astonishing  proof  that  the  EvangeHsts  were 
guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  telHng  how  he  in  whom  God 
was  revealed  to  man,  when  we  graduall)'  discover  that  no 
profane,  no  irreverent,  even  no  imaginative  hand,  can  touch 
the  sacred  outlines  of  that  divine  and  perfect  picture,  without 
degrading  and  distorting  it. 

Whether  the  apocryphal  writers  meant  their  legends  to 
be  accepted  as  history  or  as  fiction,  it  is  at  least  certain  that 
in  most  cases  they  meant  to  weave  around  the  brows  of  Christ 
a  garland  of  honor.  Yet  how  do  their  stories  dwarf  and 
dishonor  and  misinterpret  him !  How  infinitely  superior  is 
the  noble  simplicity  of  that  evangelic  silence,  .  to  all  the 
theatrical  displays  of  childish  and  meaningless  omnipotence 
with  which  the  Protevangelium  and  the  Pseudo-'Matthew,  and 
the  Arabic  Gospel  of  the  Infancy,  are  full !  They  meant  to 
honor  Christ,  but  no  inventioji  can  honor  him  :  he  who  invents 
about  him  degrades  him  ;  he  mixes  the  weak,  imperfect, 
erring  fancies  of  man,  with  the  unapproachable  and  awful 
purposes  of  God.  The  boy  Christ  of  the  Gospels  is  simple 
and  sweet,  obedient  and  humble  ;  he  is  subject  to  his  parents; 
he  is  occupied  solely  with  the  quiet  duties  of  his  home  and 
of  his  age  ;  he  loves  all  men,  and  all  men  love  the  pure  and 
gracious  and  noble  child.  Already  he  knows  God  as  his 
Father  ;  and  the  favor  of  God  falls  on  him  softly  as  the  morning 
sunlight  or  the  dew  of  heaven,  and  plays  like  an  invisible 
aureole  round  his  infantile  and  saintly  brow.  Unseen,  save 
in  the  beauty  of  heaven,  but  yet  covered  with  silver  wings,  and 
with  its  feathers  like  gold,  the  Spirit  of  God  descended  like  a 
dove,  and  rested  from  infancy  upon  the  Holy  Child. 

All  true  beauty  is  but  "  the  sacrament  of  goodness  ;  "  and 
a  conscience  so  stainless,  a  spirit  so  full  of  hannon)-,  a  life  so 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  291 

purely  noble,  could  not  but  express  itself  in  the  bearing,  could 
not  but  be  reflected  in  the  face,  of  the  Son  of  man.  He  of 
whom  John  bore  witness  as  the  Christ ;  he  whom  the  multi- 
tude would  gladly  have  seized,  that  he  might  be  their  king  ; 
he  whom  the  city  saluted  with  triumphant  shouts  as  the  Son 
of  David  ;  he  to  .whom  women  ministered  with  such  deep 
devotion,  and  whose  aspect,  even  in  the  troubled  images  of  a 
dream,  had  inspired  a  Roman  lady  with  interest  and  awe  ; 
he  whose  mere  word  caused  Philip  and  Matthew  and  many 
others  to  leave  all,  and  follow  him  ;  he  whose  one  o-lance 
broke  into  an  agony  of  repentance  the  heart  of  Peter ;  he 
before  whose  presence  those  possessed  with  devils  were  alter- 
nately agitated  into  frenzy  or  calmed  into  repose,  and  at 
whose  question,  in  the  very  crisis  of  his  weakness  and  betrayal, 
his  most  savage  enemies  shrank  and  fell  prostrate  in  the 
moment  of  their  most  infuriated  wrath,  —  such  an  one  as  this 
could  not  have  been  without  the  personal  majesty  of  a  prophet 
and  a  priest.  All  the  facts  of  his  life  speak  convincingly  of 
that  strength,  and  endurance,  and  dignity,  and  electric  influ- 
ence which  none  could  have  exercised  without  a  large  share 
of  human  no  less  than  of  spiritual  gifts.  "  Certainly,"  says 
St.  Jerome,  "  a  flame  of  fire  and  starry  brightness  flashed 
from  his  eyes,  and  the  majesty  of  the  Godhead  shone  in  his 
face."   .   .   . 

Christ  came,  not  to  revolutionize,  but  to  ennoble  and  to 
sanctify.  He  came  to  reveal  that  the  Eternal  was  not  the 
Future,  but  only  the  Unseen ;  that  eternity  was  no  ocean 
whither  men  were  being  swept  by  the  river  of  time,  but  was 
around  them  now,  and  that  their  lives  were  only  real  in  so  far 
as  they  felt  its  reality  and  its  presence.  He  came  to  teach 
that  God  was  no  dim  abstraction,  infinitely  separated  from 
them  in  the  far-off  blue,  but  that  he  was  the  Father  in  whom 
they  lived  and  moved  and  had  their  being ;  and  that  the 
service  which  he  loved  was  not  ritual  and  sacrifice,  not 
pompous  scrupulosity  and  censorious  orthodoxy,  but  mercy 
and  justice,  humility  and  love.     He  came,   not   to  hush  the 


292  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

natural  music  of  men's  lives,  nor  to  fill  it  with  storm  and 
agitation,  but  to  re-tune  every  silver  chord  in  that  "  harp  of  a 
thousand  strings,"  and  to  make  it  echo  with  the  harmonies  of 
heaven. 

Compare  Christ's  teaching  with  all  that  the  world  has  of 
the  best  and  greatest  in  philosophy  and  eloquence  and  song. 
Other  teachers  have,  by  God's  grace,  uttered  words  of  wisdom  ; 
but  to  which  of  them  has  it  been  granted  to  regenerate 
mankind  ?  What  would  the  world  be  now,  if  it  had  nothing 
better  than  the  dry  aphorisms  and  cautious  hesitations  of 
Confucius,  or  the  dubious  principles  or  dangerous  concessions 
of  Plato  ?  Would  humanity  have  made  the  vast  moral  advance 
which  it  has  made,  if  no  great  Prophet  from  on  high  had  fur- 
nished it  with  any  thing  better  than  Sakya  Mouni's  dreary  hope 
of  a  nirvana  to  be  w^on  by  unnatural  asceticism,  or  than 
Mohammed's  cynical  sanction  of  polygamy  and  despotism  ? 

Christianity  may  have  degenerated  in  many  respects  from 
its  old  and  grand  ideal ;  it  may  have  lost  something  of  its 
virgin  purity ;  the  struggling  and  divided  Church  of  to-day 
may  have  waned,  during  these  long  centuries,  from  the  splendor 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  descending  out  of  heaven  from  God  : 
but  is  Christendom  no  better  than  what  Greece  became,  and 
what  Turkey  and  Arabia  and  China  are  ?  Does  Christianity 
wither  the  nations  that  have  accepted  it,  with  the  atrophy 
of  Buddhism,  or  the  blight  of  Islam  ?  Other  religions  are 
demonstrably  defective  and  erroneous :  ours  has  never  been 
proved  to  be  other  than  perfect  and  entire.  Other  systems 
were  esoteric  and  exclusive,  ours  simple  and  universal ;  others 
temporary  and  for.  the  few,  ours  eternal  and  for  the  race. 
K'ung  Foo-tze,  Sakya  Mouni,  Mohammed,  could  not  even 
conceive  the  ideal  of  a  society  without  falHng  into  miserable 
error.  Christ  established  the  reality  of  an  eternal  and  glorious 
kingdom  ;  whose  theory  for  all,  whose  history  in  the  world, 
prove  it  to  be  indeed  what  it  was  at  first  proclaimed  to  be. — 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  tiie  kingdom  of  God. 

And  yet  how  e.\(iuisiiely  and   freshly  simple  is  the  actual 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  293 

language  of  Christ,  compared  with  all  other  teaching  that  has 
gained  the  ear  of  the  world  !  There  is  no  science  in  it,  no 
art,  no  pomp  of  demonstration,  no  carefulness  of  toil,  no  trick 
of  rhetoricians,  no  wisdom  of  the  schools.  Straight  as  an 
arrow  to  the  mark,  his  precepts  pierce  to  the  very  depths  of 
the  soul  and  spirit.  All  is  short,  clear,  precise,  full  of  holi- 
ness, full  of  the  common  images  of  daily  life. 

The  effects  of  the  work  of  Christ  are,  even  to  the  unbeliever, 
indisputable  and  historical.  It  expelled  cruelty,  it  curbed 
passion,  it  branded  suicide,  it  punished  and  repressed  an 
execrable  infanticide,  it  drove  the  shameless  impurities  of 
heathendom  into  a  congenial  darkness.  There  was  hardl}-  a 
class  whose  wrongs  it  did  not  remedy.  It  rescued  the  gladi- 
ator, it  freed  the  slave,  it  protected  the  captive,  it  nursed  the 
sick,  it  sheltered  the  orphan,  it  elevated  the  woman,  it 
shrouded  as  with  a  halo  of  sacred  innocence  the  tender  years 
of  the  child. 

In  every  region  of  life  its  ameliorating  influence  was  felt. 
It  changed  pity  from  a  vice  into  a  virtue.  It  elevated  poverty 
from  a  curse  into  a  beatitude.  It  ennobled  labor  from  a 
vulgarity  into  a  dignity  and  a  beauty.  It  sanctified  marriage 
from  little  more  than  a  burdensome  convention  into  little 
less  than  a  blessed  sacrament.  It  revealed  for  the  first  time 
the  angelic  beauty  of  a  purity  of  which  men  had  despaired, 
and  of  a  meekness  at  which  they  had  scoffed.  It  created  the 
very  conception  of  charity,  and  broadened  the  limits  of  its 
obligation  from  the  narrow  circle  of  a  neighborhood  to  the 
wide  horizon  of  the  race.  And  while  it  thus  evolved  the  idea 
of  a  common  brotherhood,  even  where  its  tidings  were  7iot 
believed  —  all  over  the  world  where  its  tidings  were  believed, 
it  cleansed  the  life  and  elevated  the  soul  of  each  individual 
man. 

And  in  all  lands  where  it  has  moulded  the  characters  ot 
true  believers,  it  created  hearts  so  pure,  and  lives  so  peaceful, 
and  homes  so  sweet,  that  it  might  seem  as  though  those  angels 
who    had  heralded    its  advent    had   also  whispered   to  every 


294  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

depressed  and  despairing  sufferer  among  the  sons  of  men, 
"  Though  ye  have  Hen  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye  be  as  the 
wings  of  the  dove  that  is  covered  with  silver  wings,  and  her 
feathers  like  gold." 


'CUNNINGHAM    GEIKIE. 

[The   Life   and   Words   of   Chi^st.     New  York  :    iSSo  (American   edition).     Vol.  i. 

ch.  i.] 

The  life  of  Jesus  Christ  mu.st  ever  remain  the  noblest  and 
most  truthful  study  for  all  men  of  every  age.  It  is  admitted, 
even  by  those  of  other  faiths,  that  he  was  at  once  a  great 
teacher,  and  a  livinof  illustration  of  the  truths  he  tausfht. 
The  Mohammedan  world  give  him  the  high  title  of  Masik 
(Messiah),  and  set  him  above  all  the  prophets.  The  Jews 
confess  admiration  of  his  character  and  words  as  exhibited  in 
the  Go.spels. 

We  all  know  how  lowly  a  reverence  is  paid  to  him  in 
passage  after  passage  by  Shakspeare.  the  greatest  intellect 
known,  in  its  wide,  many-sided  splendor.  Men  like  Galileo, 
Kepler,  Bacon,  Newton,  and  Milton,  set  the  name  of  Jesus 
Christ  above  every  other.  Spinoza  calls  Christ  the  symbol 
of  divine  wisdom  ;  Kant  and  Jacobi  hold  him  up  as  a  sym- 
bol of  ideal  perfection  ;  and  Schelling  and  Hegel,  as  that  of 
the  union  of  the  divine  and  human.   .   .   . 

If  we  attempt  to  discover  what  it  is  in  the  personal 
character  of  Jesus  Christ,  as  shown  in  his  life,  that  thus 
attracts  such  permanent  admiration,  it  is  not  difficult  to  do 
so.  In  an  age  when  the  ideal  of  religious  life  was  realized 
in  the  Baptist's  withdrawing  from  men,  and  lnir)'ing  himself  in 
the  ascetic  solitudes  of  the  desert,  Christ  came,  bringing 
religion  into  the  hearts  and  homes  of  every-day  life  of  men. 
I^'or  the  mortifications  of  the  hermit,  he  substituted  the  labors 
of  active  benevolence  ;  for  the  fears  and  gloom  which  shrank 
from  men,  he  brought  the;  light  of  a  cheerful  piety,  which 
made  every  act  of  (.lail\  life   religious.      He  found  the  domain 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  295 

of  religion  fenced  off  as  something  distinct  from  common 
duties ;  and  he  threw  down  the  wall  of  separation,  and  conse- 
crated the  whole  sweep  of  existence. 

He  lived  a  man  amongst  men.  sharing  alike  their  joys 
and  their  sorrows  ;  dignifying  the  humblest  details  of  life  by 
making  them  subordinate  to  the  single  aim  of  his  Father's 
glory.  Henceforth  the  grand  revolution  was  inaugurated, 
which  taught  that  religion  does  not  lie  in  selfish  or  morbid 
devotion  to  personal  interests,  whether  in  the  desert  or  in 
the  temple,  but  in  loving  work  and  self-sacrifice  for  others. 
The  absolute  unselfishness  of  Christ's  character  is,  indeed, 
its  unique  charm.  His  own  life  is  self-denial  throughout ; 
and  he  makes  a  similar  spirit  the  test  of  all  healthy  religious 
life.  It  is  he  who  said,  "It  is  more  blessed  to  pfive  than  to 
receive  ; "  who  reminds  us  that  life,  like  the  wheat,  yields 
fruit  only  by  its  own  dying ;  who  gave  us  the  ideal  of  life 
in  his  own  absolute  self-oblivion.  We  feel  instinctively  that 
this  Gospel  of  love  is  divine,  and  that  we  cannot  withhold  our 
homage  from  the  only  perfectly  unselfish  life  ever  seen  on 
earth. 

He  demands  repentance  from  all,  but  never  for  a  moment 
hints  at  any  need  of  it  for  himself.  With  all  his  matchless 
lowliness,  he  advances  personal  claims  which  in  a  mere  man 
would  be  the  very  delirium  of  religious  pride.  He  was 
divinely  patient  under  every  form  of  suffering,  —  a  homeless 
life,  hunger  and  thirst,  craft  and  violence,  meanness  and  pride, 
the  taunts  of  enemies,  and  betrayals  of  friends,  ending  in  art 
ignominious  death.  Nothing  of  all  this  for  a  moment  turned 
him  from  his  chosen  path  of  love  and  pity.  His  last  words, 
like  his  whole  life,  were  a  prayer  for  those  who  returned  him 
evil  for  good.  His  absolute  superiority  to  every  thing  narrow 
or  local,  so  that  he,  a  Jew,  founds  a  religion  in  which  all  man- 
kind are  a  common  brotherhood,  equal  before  God ;  the 
dignity,  calmness,  and  self-possession  before  rulers,  priests, 
and  governors,  which  set  him  immeasurably  above  them ; 
his  freedom   from  superstition,   in  an    age  which  was    super- 


296  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

stitious  almost  beyond  example  ;  his  superiority  to  the  merely 
external  and  ritual,  in  an  age  when  rites  and  externals  were 
the  sum  of  religion  :  all  these  considerations,  to  mention  no 
others,  explain  the  mysterious  attraction  of  his  character, 
even  when  looked  at  only  as  that  of  an  ideal  man. 


ALEXANDER    RALEIGH. 

[Quiet  Resting-Places.     Edinburgh  :   1871.     Pp.  367,  368.] 

"  Behold  the  man  !  "     How  significant  it  is,  when  we  think 


& 


of  it,  that  the  mere  passing  words  of  a  man  of  no  moral  worth 
should  thus  become  instinct  with  hio-her  and  holier  meanino^ ; 
should  be,  as  it  were,  redeemed  and  turned  to  heavenly  uses 
by  simple  contact  with  the  person  of  Jesus !  What  a  virtue 
there  must  be  in  him,  when  almost  every  thing  he  touches 
is  in  some  sense  hallowed  and  glorified  !  Toil  has  been  a 
nobler  discipline  since  he  wrought  in  Nazareth ;  common 
travel  has  had  more  pleasure  in  it  since  he  trod  the  dusty 
highways  of  Judaea ;  suffering  has  been  a  sacred  thing  since 
he  suffered  ;  we  could  not  now  see  a  crown  of  thorns,  without 
thinking  tenderly  of  him  ;  and  the  cross  he  has  changed  from 
being  a  symbol  of  shame,  into  one  of  everlasting  renown. 


JOHNM    ARSHALL   LOWRIE. 

[A  Week  with  Jesus.     Philadelphia  :   1866.] 

The  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is,  beyond  all  comparison,  the 
most  remarkable  that  finds  record  in  the  annals  of  humanity. 
No  biography  has  within  a  hundred-fold  been  so  abundantly 
re-written,  whether  by  those  who  humbly  follow  his  footsteps, 
or  by  those  who  have  no  single  tie  of  sympathy  with  him 
that  could  enable  them  to  comprehend  or  appreciate  his 
character.  No  reasonable  mind  can  (juestion,  whether  from 
the  direct  teachings  of  simple  history  or  the  various  conces- 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  297 

sions  of  his  bitter  foes,  that  we  have  the  true  record  of  this 
great  Hfe ;  and  the  facts  and  influences  flowing  from  them 
are  equally  remarkable.  "VVe  have  here  brought  before  us  a 
young  man  born  in  lowly  life,  having  no  advantages  of  posi- 
tion, or  even  education,  to  lift  him  above  the  mass  of  men, 
and  contenting  himself  by  instructing,  with  the  voice  merely, 
the  humble  classes  in  society  in  one  of  the  meaner  provinces 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  For  three  or  four  years  he  spent  his 
time  in  these  pursuits  ;  he  gathered  about  him  a  meagre  band 
of  disciples,  not  above  his  own  state  ;  he  awakened  only  per- 
secution and  contempt  among  the  influential  men  of  his  own 
nation  ;  and  before  he  reached  the  middle  age  of  life,  he 
was  condemned  as  a  malefactor,  and  put  to  a  violent  and 
shameful  death.  And  now  let  the  test  for  truth  and  true 
greatness  consist  in  the  succeeding  influence  of  his  sentiments 
and  character.   .   .   . 

After  his  death  the  most  remarkable  and  permanent  power 
belonged  to  one  whose  life,  up  to  its  latest  moment,  had  been 
full  of  humiliation.  His  were  the  mighty  words  of  the  world. 
They  were  living  and  life-giving  principles,  which  took  hold 
upon  men  with  regenerating  power.  There  was  nothing  in 
his  claims,  his  teachings,  his  promises,  to  inflame  or  to  gratify 
the  ordinary  passions  of  men  ;  no  honors  to  be  won,  no  ambi- 
tion to  be  gratified,  no  sensual  pleasures  to  be  enjoyed.  Yet 
his  words  were  powerful  as  no  other  teachings  have  ever  been 
upon  the  earth.  They  went  forth  from  the  narrow  boundaries 
of  Judsea,  and  attacked  the  hoary  prejudices  and  superstitions 
of  the  Pagan  world  ;  and  in  a  few  centuries,  the  Gospel  of 
the  despised  man  of  Galilee  became  the  avowed  faith  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  And  now  for  many  ages,  during  which 
hosts  of  oreat  men  have  risen  and  been  forg^otten,  his  words, 
wherever  received  in  their  simplicity,  have  had  power  to  cast 
down  superstition,  to  change  the  aspect  of  human  society,  to 
teach  men  the  true  principles  of  freedom,  to  awaken  impulses 
that  refine  and  strengthen  and  elevate  humanity,  and  to  sup- 
port   true    morality  and    true  piety,  that  seems    strangely  in 


298  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

contrast  with  the  feeble  attainments  of  his  hfe-work,  and  with 
the  apparent  triumph  of  his  foes  in  his  death  upon  the  cross. 

It  is  remarkably  true  of  Jesus,  that  all  his  acts,  his  words, 
his  promises,  his  thoughts,  are  more  powerful  after  his  death 
than  before.  There  can  be  no  valid  objection  to  making  this 
the  test  of  truth  and  true  greatness  in  his  case,  because  there 
were  no  adventitious  aids  to  give  power  to  his  empire  over 
men,  and  because  to  admit  his  claims  at  all  seems  logically 
to  demand  our  acquiescence  in  their  entire  truth  and  in  their 
supreme  authority. 

A  kingdom  purely  of  moral  principles,  having  only  that 
power  over  the  minds  of  men  which  springs  from  the  proofs  of 
its  truth  and  inherent  excellency,  and  tending  to  results  so 
contrary  to  the  usual  bias  of  man's  fallen  nature,  could  not  be 
founded  upon  any  misapprehension  of  the  great  things  then 
occurring  before  the  eyes  of  his  disciples.  Such  a  kingdom 
must  be  founded  upon  principles  of  truth  and  righteousness. 
Happily  for  the  world,  there  is  a  consistency  between  his  words 
and  deeds,  his  claims  and  avowed  purposes,  the  purity  of  his 
personal  character,  and  the  tendency  of  his  Gospel  to  purify 
its  disciples,  that  justifies  our  most  implicit  faith,  and  bids  us 
receive  this  Jesus  as  our  Friend  and  Teacher,  our  Redeemer 
and  Lord. 


PETER    BAYNE. 

[Testimony  of  Christ  to  Christianity.     Hosion :  1868.     Pp.  95,  96,  197-199.] 

Sceptic  after  sceptic  has  glared  into  the  character  of  Christ, 
searching  for  a  flaw  ;  and  sceptic  after  sceptic  has  recoiled 
with  the  confession,  that,  whatever  Christianity  might  be,  this 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  honest  and  pure.  No  character  known 
to  history  has  been  subjected  to  a  scrutiny  so  piercing  as  that 
of  Jesus  Christ;  and  there  is  no  character  known  to  history, 
e.xcept  his,  of  which  moral  perfection  could  for  a  moment  be 
maintained.   .   .   . 

It  is   beyond    douln   that    no   btMug   has   yet  appeart^d    in 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETJI.    ■  299 

human  form  whom  the  suffrage  of  the  race  has  pronounced 
so  pure,  so  holy,  as  Jesus  Christ.  A  beam  of  white  radiance, 
pure  as  the  Hght  of  God's  throne,  proceeds  from  his  eye. 
falling  along  all  succeeding  generations.   .   .   . 

Can  any  rational  mind,  fairly  considering  all  we  have  seen, 
continue  to  doubt  that  the  appearance  of  Jesus  Christ  in  this 
world  is  the  most  important,  the  central,  the  all-determining 
fact  in  human  history  ?  His  influence  has  been  at  the  heart 
of  the  greatest  civilizations  ;  and,  judging  even  by  terrestrial 
analogies,  that  influence  must  ultimately  renovate  humanity, 
working  out  the  virus  of  sin,  and  brightening  away  the  blight 
of  sorrow.  The  riddle  of  the  world,  the  existence  of  evil  and 
anguish  under  the  blue  sky  of  God,  may  not  even  thus  be 
solved  for  us  ;  but  the  Christian  solution  is  surely  such  a  one 
as  thoughtful,  wise,  and  reverent  men  must  admit  to  be  infi- 
nitely superior  to  any  which  can  be  offered  by  scepticism. 
Chaos  may  not  yet,  in  the  moral  world  of  humanity,  have 
given  place  to  cosmos ;  but  God  has  said.  Let  there  be  light ! 
and  Christ  has  come,  the  Light  of  the  world.  Long  ages  may 
yet  elapse  before  his  beams  have  reduced  the  world  to  order 
and  beauty,  and  clothed  a  purified  humanity  with  light  as  with 
a  orarment.  But  he  has  come,  —  the  revealer  of  the  snares 
that  lurk  in  darkness,  the  rebuker  of  every  evil  thing  that 
prowls  by  night,  the  stiller  of  the  storm-winds  of  passion,  the 
quickener  of  all  that  is  wholesome,  the  adorner  of  all  that  is 
beautiful,  the  reconciler  of  contradictions,  the  harmonizer  of 
discords,  the  healer  of  diseases,  the  Saviour  from  sin. 

He  has  come,  —  the  torch  of  truth,  the  anchor  of  hope, 
the  pillar  of  faith,  the  rock  of  strength,  the  refuge  for 
security,  the  fountain  for  refreshment,  the  vine  for  gladness, 
the  rose  for  beauty,  the  lamb  for  tenderness,  the  friend  for 
counsel,  the  brother  for  love. 

Jesus  Christ  has  trod  the  world.  The  trace  of  the  divine 
footsteps  will  never  be  obliterated.  And  the  divine  footsteps 
were  the  footsteps  of  a  man.  The  example  of  Christ  is  such 
as   man   can   follow.      On !    until   mankind  wears   his    image. 


300  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

On  !  towards  yon  summit  on  which  stands,  not  an  angel,  not 
a  disembodied  spirit,  not  an  abstract  of  ideal  and  unattainable 
virtues,  but  the  Man  Christ  Jesus. 

When  humanity  has  become  like  his  humanity,  we  may 
pause.  We  shall  then  be  aware  that  the  clouds  above  our 
head  have  beamed  into  the  unutterable  beauty  of  heaven,  and 
that  the  lilies  of  the  field  glowed  into  immortal  amaranths. 
May  God  Almighty  hasten  the  consummation,  and  may  we 
with  passionate,  steady-burning,  unquenchable  ardor,  strive  to 
know  and  imitate  Christ! 


EDWARD    HAROLD    BROWNE. 

[Modern  Scepticism.     New  York:  1S71.     Pp.  4i3'  4i4r  425-  455-1 

The  character  of  Christ,  as  depicted  in  the  Gospels,  exhibits 
the  most  perfect  picture  of  sublime  simplicity  ever  drawn.  It 
is  impossible  to  imagine  any  thing  more  simple  or  more  simply 
graphic  than  their  style.  It  is  still  more  impossible  to  imagine 
any  thing  more  removed  from  the  vulgarit)'  of  rhetoric  or 
display,  or  effort  at  effect,  than  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 
People  have  spoken  as  though  he  had  been  merel)-  a  first-rate 
political  reformer,  a  demagogue  belonging  to  a  type  of  unusual 
disinterestedness.  Surely  his  retired,  unseen  youth,  his  gentle, 
quiet  manhood,  his  calm,  dignified,  unimpassioned  words,  are 
the  very  opposite  in  tone  and  character  to  those  of  the  noblest 
demagogue  or  the  purest  political  leader  that  was  ever  heard 
of.  "  He  went  about  doine  Qfood."  seems  almost  to  record 
his  history.  "  He  was  meek  and  lowly  of  heart,"  seems  almost 
to  sum  up  his  character.  The  most  untiring  energy,  the  most 
patient  endurance,  the  most  tender  and  affectionate  benevo- 
lence, strike  us  in  every  act  and  word  of  Christ.  And  yet 
thctrc;  was  nothing  feeble,  nothing  efteminate,  nothing  senti- 
mental, about  him.  Simple  as  the  gentlest  child,  he  was 
brav(?  as  the  hardiest  warrior.  Weeping  with  the  tenderness 
of  a  woman   lor  tlu;   sad   and   \\\v.   sufterino-,  he   rebuked   with 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETJI.  30 1 

inflexible  sternness  the  base,  the  cruel,  and  the  hypocritical. 
With  the  most  unstudied  purity  of  thought  and  life,  he  had 
yet  a  heart  of  such  large  and  gentle  sympathy  that  the  v^ry 
outcast  of  mankind  could  come  to  him  for  help  and  counsel, 
and  he  never  rejected  them. 

Probably  all  men,  even  those  who  did  not  believe  in  him, 
would  confess,  that,  if  they  could  see  any  one  living  just  the 
life  which  is  related  to  have  been  the  life  of  Jesus,  the  man  so 
living  would  be  perfect  in  all  parts, —  the  very  ideal  of  humble- 
hearted,  active-spirited,  pure-minded,  high-souled  humanity. 
The  originality  of  his  character  is  almost  as  observable  as  its 
excellence.  He  was  not  simply  the  great  teacher,  like  the 
philosophers  of  old,  to  whom  crowds  of  disciples  were  gath- 
ered to  listen.  He  was  not  the  contemplative  thinker,  living 
retired  from  human  society.  He  was  no  ascetic,  frowning 
coldly  on  the  innocent  happiness  of  man.  On  the  other  hand, 
with  all  his  marvellous  activity,  there  is  not  the  smallest 
appearance  of  restlessness,  excitement,  impetuosit)-.  He  was, 
if  he  be  rightly  described  by  his  biographers,  what  no  other 
man  ever  was,  —  perfectly  unselfish,  living,  acting,  thinking, 
speaking  always  with  reference  either  to  the  service  of  God  or 
the  good  of  man.  .  .   . 

I  have  already  pointed  to  the  calmness,  self-possession, 
soberness,  of  Christ.  No  character  in  histor}'  exhibits  these 
qualities  so  markedly.  There  is  not  a  symptom  of  restless- 
ness, excitement,  or  intemperance  of  any  kind,  in  any  one  of 
his  discourses.  His  eloquence,  —  and  no  one  can  doubt  his 
eloquence  who  has  read,  "Consider  the  lilies  of  the  field," 
who  has  heard,  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden,"  —  though  more  heart-thrilling  than  any  human 
eloquence,  was  never  rhetorical,  never  emotional.  It  carried 
conviction  because  it  sounded  like  truth  uttered  by  love.  In 
fact,  fanaticism  or  insanity  are  charges  that  cannot  be  made 
against  him  on  any  ground  whatever,  except  on  the  ground 
that  he  believed  what  he  taught,  and  that  no  reasonable  person 
could  believe  it.     And  if  so,  I  think  the  charge  must  be  aban- 


302  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

doned;  for  Bacon.  Locke,  Newton,  and  Leibnitz  have  believed 
it,  and  it  is  still  believed  by  the  most  reasoning  minds  in 
Christendom.   .   .   . 

*  If  an  assembly  of  five  hundred  or  a  thousand  persons 
could  be  gathered  together  in  any  city  of  Europe,  or  European 
America,  it  being  provided  that  all  of  them  should  be  intelli- 
gent, well-educated,  high-principled,  and  well-living  men  and 
women  ;  and  if  the  question  w^ere  put  to  each  of  them,  "To 
what  do  you  attribute  your  high  character,  your  moral  and 
social  excellence  ?  "  I  feel  no  doubt  that  nineteen  out  of  every 
twenty  of  them  would,  on  reflection,  reply,  "  To  the  influence 
of  Christianity  on  my  education,  my  conscience,  and  my 
heart."  I  will  suppose  a  yet  further  question  to  be  put  to 
them,  and  it  shall  be  this  :  "If  you  were  to  be  assured  that 
the  object  you  hold  dearest  on  earth  would  be  taken  from  you 
to-morrow,  and  if  at  the  same  time  you  could  be  assured  with 
undoubting  certainty  that  Jesus  Christ  was  a  myth  or  an 
impostor,  and  his  Gospel  a  fable  and  a  falsehood,  whether  of 
the  two  assurances  would  strike  upon  your  heart  with  the 
more  chilling  and  more  hope-destroying  misery  ? "  And  I 
believe  that  nine-tenths  of  the  company,  being  such  as  I  have 
stipulated  they  should  be,  would  answer,  "Take  from  me  my 
best  earthly  treasure,  but  leave  me  my  hope  in  the  Saviour  of 
the  world." 


JOHN    HARRIS. 


[The  Great  Teacher.     Amherst:    1866.     I*p.  335,  340,  342,  34S-352,  357,  381,  ;,S6-jS8, 

406-408.] 

In  perusing  the  writings  of  many  a  moral  instructor,  the 
only  abatement  from  our  edification  arises  from  the  unwelcome 
recollection  of  his  character.  His  statements  of  truth  are  for- 
cible, his  illustrations  clear,  his  appeals  aftecting ;  but  the 
remembrance  of  the  contradiction  which  existed  between  his 
doctrine  and  life  returns,  the  spell  by  which  he  held  us  is 
dissolved,  a  shadow  falls  on   the   page,  and  his  most  arrowy 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  303 

appeals  drop  pointless  and  short  of  our  hearts.  But  in  listen- 
ing to  the  instructions  of  our  blessed  Lord,  the  recollection 
of  his  character  is  not  merely  welcome,  in  order  to  do  them 
justice  :  it  is  essential.  There  have  been  others,  indeed,  who 
have  owed  the  success  of  their  teaching-  partly  to  their  moral 
excellency ;  but  such  is  the  excellence  of  his  character,  that, 
could  we  only  bring  to  the  perusal  of  his  instructions  a  vivid 
conception  of  it,  we  should  no  longer  have  to  deplore  their 
inefficacy.  Could  we  only  come  unto  them  under  the  full 
influence  of  that  idea,  nothing  could  long  resist  their  power. 
As  often  as  we  returned  to  them,  they  would  receive  so  strong 
a  re-enforcement  of  impression  from  that  association,  that 
they  could  not  fail  to  pass  farther  and  farther  into  the  mind, 
changing  the  soul  into  their  own  form  and  quality,  and  thus 
verifying  his  own  description  of  them,  that  "They  are  spirit, 
and  they  are  life." 

The  universality  of  his  plans  left  him  without  any  contem- 
poraneous sympathy.  He  loved  man  as  man  :  he  came  to  be 
the  light  and  life  of  the  world.  His  benevolence  could  not 
endure  the  thought  of  a  single  human  being  perishing.  His 
heart  had  room  for  a  whole  race,  and  he  could  not  be  satis- 
fied with  less  than  a  universal  offer  of  mercy. 

And  benevolence  is  the  principle  which  harmonized  in  him 
the  most  contrasted  qualities.  In  his  mysterious  person  it 
had  brought  into  union  time  and  eternity,  heaven  and  earth  ; 
and  in  his  character  it  blended  majesty  such  as  God  before 
had  never  displayed,  with  meekness  such  as  man  before  had 
never  shown.  Dignity,  in  him,  was  not  terror  ;  for  he  clothed 
it  with  a  condescension  which  had  before  been  thought  incon- 
sistent with  greatness.  Temperance  and  self-denial,  with  him, 
were  not  darkened  with  austerity,  but  came  softened  and  rec- 
ommended by  gentleness  and  suavity.  In  him  were  united 
an  indignant  sensibility  to  sin,  with  weeping  compassion  for 
the  sinner;  the  splendors  of  more  than  an  angelic  nature, 
with  the  humility  of  a  little  child  ;  a  resolved  perseverance  in 
the  path  of  duty  which  no  array  of  dangers  could  deter,  with 


304  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

a  heart  so  attuned  to  compassion  that  the  faintest  appeal  of 
misery  arrested  his  progress,  as  with  the  power  of  omnipotence, 
and  made  him  stand  still. 

While  he  seemed  to  do  every  thing  for  the  future,  he  yet 
neglected  nothing  proper  to  the  present ;  while  he  held  him- 
self ready  to  embrace  the  mightiest  plans,  and  evinced  a  con- 
sciousness that  he  stood  related  to  a  whole  species,  he  yet 
stooped,  without  trifling,  to  the  smallest  circumstance.  Like 
the  Almighty  Father,  sustaining  the  worlds,  yet  stooping  to 
succor  the  fallen  bird,  he  one  moment  conversed  with  celestial 
visitants,  and  the  next  he  listened  to  the  lispings  of  infant 
praise,  or  meekly  bore  the  obtuseness  of  his  disciples.  He 
who  received  the  homage  of  angels,  and  had  all  their  legions 
at  command,  sees  wealth  in  the  tribute  of  a  sinful  woman's 
tears,  and  finds  the  sweetest  music  in  the  dying  thanks  of  the 
guilty  malefactor.   .   .  . 

Universal  philanthropy  did  not  impair  his  sensibility  to  the 
pleasures  of  private  friendships  and  domestic  intercourse  ;  nor 
did  the  momentous  interests,  w^iich  pressed  on  his  soul  in  the 
crisis  of  the  world's  redemption,  prevent  him  from  thinking 
of  his  filial  relation,  and  tenderly  providing  for  a  mother's 
comfort. 

Never  was  there  a  character  at  the  same  time  so  magnifi- 
cent and  unlabored  ;  so  conscious  of  Qreatness,  and  so  unos- 
tentatiously  simple  ;  so  full  of  inspiration  to  the  good,  and 
so  free  from  terror,  so  replete  \\\\\\  encouragement,  to  the 
outcast  penitent.  In  his  character  met  the  whole  constellation 
of  the  virtues,  each  one  made  brighter  by  contrast ;  but  one 
overpowering  sentiment  softened  and  subjected  them  all  to 
itsell,  —  one  all-pervading  law  gave  unity  and  harmon)'  to  his 
most  opposite  actions,  interpreting  all  his  words  and  looks, 
preventing  him,  even  in  the  most  critical  situations,  from  being 
at  variance  with  himself,  or  falling  below  his  professed  object ; 
and  that  sentiment,  that  law,  was  love. 

Hatl  the  object  of  Jesus  been  merely  to  leave  in  our 
possession   a  rexelation  of   the  will    of   Ciod,   he  would    have 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH. 


0^0 


dispensed  with  that  tender  solicitude  which  marked  his  con- 
duct, and  have  confined  himself  exclusively  to  the  design  of 
his  mission.  But  he  came  to  enlighten,  only  that  he  might 
save  ;  and,  like  a  wise  and  kind  instructor,  he  clothed  himself 
with  love  that  he  might  gain  for  his  instructions  a  place  in 
our  heart.  To  this  end  it  was,  that  he  chose  to  move  in  the 
humbler  walks  of  life.  Every  condition  of  society  was  open 
to  his  choice,  and  human  taste  would  have  selected  wealth 
and  rank  and  worldly  influence  ;  but  this  would  have  removed 
him  from  the  society  of  the  people,  whereas  his  object  was  to 
make  himself  one  with  them.  He  selected  others  to  assist 
him  in  preaching  the  kingdom  of  heaven  ;  but  he  asked  not 
philosophy  to  argue  in  its  defence,  or  poetry  to  sing  its  praise, 
or  eloquence  to  pour  forth  its  oratory,  or  royalty  to  clothe  it 
with  state,  or  arm  with  power.  The  instrumentality  he  em- 
ployed was  of  the  humblest  order  ;  was,  like  himself,  "  raised 
up  from  among  the  people,"  and  therefore  adapted  to  gain  the 
attention  of  the  people. 

He  regarded  himself  as  specially  anointed  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  poor.  Had  human  might  been  consulted  on 
the  subject,  it  would  fain  have  had  splendor  follow  in  his  train, 
and  wealth  pour  out  its  treasures  before  him,  and  ambition 
receive  honors  and  titles  at  his  hands.  It  would  have  had  his 
Gospel  patronized  by  the  great  and  mighty  of  the  earth  ;  and 
then  it  would  have  mino-led  amonof  them,  and  enrolled  its 
name  among  his  followers.  But  the  great  distinction  of  his 
ministry,  and  the  fact  in  which  he  gloried,  was,  that  the  poor 
had  the  Gospel  preached  to  them.  This  was  a  stretch  of 
philosophy  unknown  to  the  philosophers  of  Greece  and  Rome. 

The  transcendent  idea  of  propagating  a  universal  religion 
—  a  system  which  should  include  the  multitudes  who  throng 
the  highways  and  thoroughfares  of  life,  which  should  convert 
religion  into  a  daily  bread  for  the  poor  —  was  reserved  for 
him  who  came  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost.  He 
could  not  look  on  the  exigencies  and  the  evils  peculiar  to 
their   condition,    could    not   witness    the    neglect    and    scorn 


306  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

to  which  they  were  subjected,  and  of  w^iich  in  the  present 
day  it  is  not  easy  to  form  an  adequate  conception,  without 
feehng  his  compassion  stirred  within  him.  Among  the  most 
civihzed  and  pohshed  nations,  they  were  prostrate  in  the  dust. 
For  them  philosophy  disdained  an  interest  as  utterly  beneath 
her  notice,  as  having  nothing  sufficiently  vulgar  for  their  taste. 
For  them  the  law  had  no  protecting  arm,  justice  no  balances. 
Right,  if  it  spoke  at  all,  spoke  in  a  voice  scarcely  to  be  heard  ; 
and  kindness,  if  it  deigned  a  look,  regarded  them  with  a 
countenance  which  indicated  a  heart  at  ease,  and  devoid  of 
sympathy.  For  their  darkness,  religion  —  that  is  to  say,  the 
religion  which  prevailed — had  no  ray  of  light,  nor  did  a 
drop  of  consolation  fall  into  their  cup.  Even  in  Judaea  itself, 
they  were  treated  as  the  refuse  of  society,  and  as  cut  off  from 
the  favor  of  God.  "This  people  that  knoweth  not  the  law," 
said  the  proud  Pharisees,  "  are  cursed  ;  "  this  ignorant  and 
contemptible  class  are  forsaken  of  God,  and  doomed  to 
destruction.  Now,  it  was  to  rescue  them  from  this  oppressed 
and  degraded  state,  to  plead  their  cause,  to  redress  their 
wrongs,  to  wipe  away  their  tears,  to  raise  them  to  that  level 
which  they  ought  to  maintain,  as  heirs  of  immortality,  in 
common  with  those  around  them,  that  Jesus  preached  his 
Gospel  to  the  poor. 

And  the  mode  of  instruction  he  adopted  was  of  the  most 
simple  description.  He  taught  no  abstract  theories  inappli- 
cable to  the  affairs  of  life,  no  philosophic  systems  incompre- 
hensible to  ordinary  capacities ;  dealt  in  no  cabalistic  lore  ; 
sanctioned  no  distinctions  of  philosophical  teaching. 

Jewish  pride  would  have  dictated,  that,  if  a  new  dispensa- 
tion was  to  be  given,  it  should  be  proclaimed  immediately 
from  heaven  ;  that,  amidst  the  splendors  of  another  Sinai,  it 
should  be  delivered  by  the  ministry  of  angels.  Had  the  taste 
of  Greece  been  consulted,  it  would  have  required  that  the 
Gospel  should  be  announced  in  all  the  studied  beauties  of 
composition,  supported  by  the  ingenious  reasonings,  and 
accompanied  by  the  airy  speculations,  in  which  their  philoso- 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  307 

phers  were  accustomed  to  propound  their  flimsy  abstractions. 
But  the  great  Teacher  would  not  thus  debase  his  Gospel,  and 
frustrate  his  design.  He  sought  to  make  himself  universal, 
to  speak  to  humanity.  His  tongue  was  only  the  interpreter  of 
the  heart,  and  he  aimed  to  render  his  teaching  a  contact 
of  hearts.  The  key  of  knowledge  had  been  taken  away  by 
those  who  should  have  held  it  only  for  the  people.  They 
had  "  shut  up  the  kingdom  of  heaven  "  from  the  poor,  and 
left  them  to  perish  ;  and,  while  he  charged  them  with  this 
awful  fraud  on  the  well-being  of  man,  he  hastened  to  supply 
the  perishing  with  superior  means  of  salvation. 

His  leading  topics  were  few,  that  he  might  not  confuse  ; 
but  so  personal  and  important  that  they  found  a  response  and 
an  interpreter  in  every  bosom.  He  simplified  knowledge, 
and  reduced  it  to  its  elements  ;  now  removing  the  veil  from 
ancient  prophecy ;  now  uttering  a  touching  parable,  now  a 
graphic  illustration  from  familiar  life,  now  an  easy  precept 
or  weighty  truth,  and  presently  returning  again  to  place  the 
same  truth  in  a  new  light.  He  went  about  as  the  bread  of 
life. 

And  the  simplicity  of  his  teaching  was  only  in  accordance 
with  his  compassionate  design,  to  console  the  wretched.  The 
effect  of  sorrow  is  to  reduce  our  nature  to  its  elements,  to 
suspend  our  intellectual  powers,  and  resolve  us  into  creatures 
of  mere  feeling ;  to  shut  up  every  avenue  but  that  which 
leads  to  the  heart.  He  knew  that  grief  thus  simplifies  our 
nature,  and  he  provided  a  remedy  equally  simple.  He  im- 
parted truths  to  which  the  heart  listens,  and  which  the  heart 
alone  can  understand  ;  for  he  held  the  heart  of  the  world  in 
his  hand,  and,  knowing  the  secret  of  all  its  sympathies,  he 
communed  with  its  weakness  and  sorrows  by  methods  pecul- 
iarly his  own. 

Sorrow  was,  in  his  eyes,  among  the  most  sacred  things  he 
found  on  earth  ;  and  had  it  not  been  so  before,  the  reverent 
attention  with  which  he  honored  it,  and  the  simple  and  sym- 
pathetic terms  in  which  he  addressed  it,  would  have  made  it 


3o8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

hallowed.  He  knew  also  that  the  time  of  affliction  would  be 
the  season  when  numbers  would  first  direct  a  look  to  the 
Gospel  for  relief ;  when  help,  if  it  came  to  them  at  all,  must 
come  without  effort ;  when  the  staff  not  only  must  be  pro- 
vided, but  actually  be  put  into  their  hand.  And  knowing 
this,  he  published  his  Gospel  as  a  system  of  consolation  for 
the  miserable,  and  they  who  know  it  best  are  the  readiest 
to  confess  how  fully  it  answers  to  the  character ;  after  the  trial 
of  ages,  it  maintains  its  prerogative  of  binding  up  the  broken 
in  heart. 

The  first  sentence  he  uttered,  in  his  first  recorded  dis- 
course, is  a  sample  of  the  spirit  he  breathed  in  all  his  subse- 
quent addresses:  "  Blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit,  for  theirs 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  Blessing  after  blessing  follow 
each  other  in  quick  succession  ;  every  sentence  comes  from 
his  lips  loaded  with  grace  ;  like  the  gushing-forth  of  a  fountain 
long  sealed  up,  they  show  the  fulness  of  benevolence  which 
possessed  his  heart.  The  poor  in  spirit,  the  meek,  the  holy, 
the  sorrowful  and  broken-hearted,  the  merciful,  the  peaceful,  the 
persecuted,  the  orphans,  the  disinherited,  the  rejected  of 
the  world,  —  such  was  the  large  family  on  whom  his  blessings 
fell,  to  whom  he  opened  his  arms,  and  welcomed  to  the  shelter 
of  his  heart. 

Each  of  the  virtues  which  he  here  implies  may  be  regarded 
as  a  separate  and  essential  feature  of  Christian  excellence ; 
and  as  he  adds  one  lineament  to  the  portrait  after  another, 
he  surveys  it  with  delight.  He  sees  wealth  in  that  spiritual 
poverty,  more  ample  and  enduring  than  all  the  treasures  which 
earth  can  boast ;  a  majesty  in  this  meekness,  to  which  pride 
can  never  erect  itself;  and  in  this  Christian  sorrow  he  beholds 
the  seeds  of  joy,  the  blossomings  of  glory.  He  contemplates 
it  in  reference  to  another  state  of  being;  and,  though  the 
world  in  its  blindness  may  hold  this  character  in  contempt, 
h(!  knows  that  it  is  such  as  anofcls  will  bless  ;  that  the  ereat 
God  seated  on  the  throne  of  heaven  pronounces  it  blessed, 
repeats  over  it  all   the  divine  beatitudes.      He  would  ha\e  us 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  309 

to  know,  that  when  It  departs  by  death  from  this  earthly  scene, 
he  raises  and  welcomes  it  into  his  own  kingdom  ;  and  that 
when  every  mere  earthly  embellishment  shall  have  faded  and 
disappeared,  he  will  proclaim  it  happy  in  the  presence  of  the 
universe,  and  crown  it  with  glory  and  honor ;  that  it  is  a  char- 
acter whose  blessedness  eternity  itself  will  ratify  and  augment. 
As  if  the  benevolence  of  God  had  forsaken  every  other  vent, 
to  find  a  channel  through  his  lips,  thus  freely  and  copiously 
did  he  pour  forth  divine  benedictions. 

Nor  were  the  tenderness  and  benevolence  of  Christ  abated, 
either  by  the  lapse  of  time,  or  the  perseverance  of  human 
ingratitude.  His  kindness  exhibited  no  tendency  to  degener- 
ate into  mere  professional  sympathy ;  nor  had  the  malice  of 
those  who  seized  his  outstretched  hand,  and  nailed  it  to  the 
cross,  any  other  visible  effect  than  that  of  inducing  him  to 
hasten  the  work  of  saving  them  from  themselves. 

The  superiority  to  ingratitude,  which  some  exhibit,  arises 
from  a  defect  in  the  constitution  of  their  nature,  by  which  they 
are  armed  with  a  degree  of  insensibility  to  wrongs,  sufficient 
to  blunt  the  weapons  of  unkindness.  But  the  sensibilities  of 
Christ  were  of  the  most  acute  description  ;  for  in  him  were 
harmonized  all  that  is  great  in  mind,  noble  in  sentiment,  and 
delicate  in  feeling.  His  nature  exhibited  the  perfection  of 
humanity.  The  conduct  of  man  made  a  constant  demand  on 
his  forbearance,  a  perpetual  drain  on  his  pity,  sufficient  to 
exhaust  every  heart  but  one  which  was  daily  replenished 
at  the  fountain  of  compassion  itself. 

What  a  miracle  of  moral  portraiture  do  we  behold  in  the 
evangelical  history  of  Christ !  What  transcendent  wisdom  ! 
What  divine  benevolence  !  What  perfection  !  The  character 
of  Jesus  stands  alone  ;  it  has  no  archetype  in  history,  no 
analogy  in  nature,  no  model  in  all  the  worlds  of  imagination  ; 
as  portrayed  in  Scripture,  it  could  only  have  been  drawn  from 
a  contemplation  of  the  living  reality.  It  was  the  conception 
of  an  infinite  mind.  It  was  the  triumph  of  mercy  to  combine 
in  the  same  being  the  evidences  of  divinity,  adequate  illustra- 


3IO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

tions  of  divine  love,  and  the  power  of  winning  the  souls  of 
men  to  salvation,  and  transforming  them  to  holiness. 

The  character  of  Christ  forms  a  distinct  proof,  an  invinci- 
ble demonstration,  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel.  When  we 
remember  that  it  received  a  tribute  of  homage  from  fallen 
spirits,  w^e  shall  the  less  wonder  that  it  has  extorted  expres- 
sions of  reverence  from  some  of  the  worst  specimens  of  fallen 
humanity.  Men  who  have  sported  with  the  sanctity  of  every 
thing  else  that  religion  owns,  have  passed  by  the  character  of 
Christ  in  respectful  silence.  This  w^as  conscience  recognizing 
in  his  perfection  a  likeness  which  it  felt  it  ought  to  be  familiar 
with  and  adore.  Such  is  the  awful  power  of  goodness  pre- 
configured  to  its  image.  Some  of  them  have  been  entirely 
restrained  from  violating  the  sanctuary  of  truth  by  the  same 
guardian  influence  ;  the  character  of  Christ,  like  the  presence 
of  a  shrine,  protected  it. 

Religion  has  often  escaped  evil  and  received  homage  from 
its  foes,  for  the  sake  of  the  character  of  Christ.  Men  who 
have  destroyed  in  intention  every  other  part  of  the  temple  of 
truth,  have  paused  when  they  came  to  this,  have  turned  aside, 
and  desisted  for  a  while  from  the  work  of  demolition,  to  gaze 
and  bow  before  it ;  have  not  merely  left  it  standing  as  a  col- 
umn too  majestic,  or  an  altar  too  holy,  for  human  sacrilege 
to  assail,  but  have  even  inscribed  their  names  on  its  base,  and 
have  been  heard  to  burst  forth  in  admiring  exclamations 
approaching  to  love. 

The  peculiar  excellences  of  the  character  of  Christ,  as  an 
argument  for  the  Gospel,  are  that  it  tends  to  attract  and  invite 
inspection,  for  it  is  the  perfection  of  moral  beauty.  It  is  level 
to  the  apprehension  of  all ;  for  it  makes  a  direct  appeal  to 
some  of  the  first  principles  of  our  nature,  to  our  natural  per- 
ceptions of  goodness,  and  our  instinctive  approval  of  it;  and 
it  not  only  convinces,  but  transforms,  engaging  and  carr)ing 
with  it  the  understanding  and  the  heart.  While  some  who 
were  in  th(.'  last  stages  of  depravity  have  been  allured  by  it 
to  the   pursuit  of  excellence,  others  who   have  been  sitting  in 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  3 1 1 

despondency  at  the  gates  of  perdition  have  beheld  it  and 
conceived  hope.  And  though  the  best  specimens  of  our  race 
have,  in  every  age  since  his  appearance,  been  laboring  to 
imitate,  they  have  not  been  able  to  equal  it. 

The  character  of  Jesus  challenges  the  affection  of  all 
intelligent  beings,  leaves  the  impression  of  its  image  on 
every  object  it  touches,  and  is  destined  to  collect  around 
itself  all  the  sanctified  passions  of  the  universe. 

In  the  hands  of  Jesus  the  science  of  morality  is  simplified 
and  complete.  A  single  prohibition  is  so  planted  by  him,  that, 
like  a  piece  of  ordnance,  it  may  be  said  to  enfilade  and  sweep 
a  whole  territory  of  sin  ;  nothing  can  come  within  its  range 
without  challenofinof  its  thunder  and  courtinof  death.  A  sino-le 
rule  is  found  to  contain  laws  for  an  indefinite  number  of 
actions,  for  all  the  possible  cases  of  the  class  described,  which 
can  ever  occur.  Like  the  few  imaginary  circles  by  which 
geography  circumscribes  the  earth,  he  has,  by  a  few  sentences, 
described  and  distributed  into  sections  the  whole  globe  of 
human  duty,  so  that,  wherever  we  may  be  on  it,  we  find 
ourselves  encompassed  by  some  comprehensive  maxim  ;  and 
in  whatever  direction  we  may  move,  we  have  only  to  reflect 
in  order  to  perceive  that  we  are  receding  from  or  approaching 
to  some  line  of  morality. 

By  thus  generalizing  morality,  he  has  consulted  the 
weakness  of  the  most  impaired  memory ;  presented  us  with 
a  map-like  view  of  the  wide  region  of  duty,  which  a  single 
glance  can  survey ;  provided  rules  for  all  the  possible  varieties 
and  continofencies  of  human  action :  while  the  consciousness 
it  affords  his  followers,  that  they  are  able  to  sustain  the 
particulars  of  their  life  upon  great  first  principles,  enables 
them  to  advance  in  the  path  of  holiness  with  an  erect,  assured, 
and  dienified  carriao-e  of  mind  ;  and  the  demand  which  it 
makes  upon  the  higher  capabilities  of  nature,  in  calling  them 
to  comprehend  such  measures  of  greatness,  and  to  sympathize 
with  such  perfection,  raises  and  ennobles  them  to  themselves, 
and  possesses  them  with  a  feeling  that  they  are  allied  to  God. 


312  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

To  give  a  single  exemplification,  let  me  advert  to  the 
axiom  known  as  the  Golden  Rule  and  universal  law  of  equity : 
"  All  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  unto 
you,  do  ye  also  unto  them ;  for  this  is  the  law  and  the 
prophets."  The  Saviour  himself  ascribes  to  this  rule  the 
condensed  and  comprehensive  character  for  which  we  have 
cited  it ;  he  pronounces  it  an  abstract  of  all  that  had  been 
prescribed  by  the  law  and  the  prophets ;  all  they  delivered 
on  the  subject  is  reducible  to  this,  so  that,  were  their  writings 
lost,  this  summary  might  be  expanded  into  all  the  others. 
Notwithstanding  its  conciseness,  it  is  a  maxim  of  so  generic 
a  kind,  that,  encircling  the  whole  sphere  of  social  virtue,  it 
embraces  all  tilings  whatsoever  that  sphere  contains.  No 
injury  can  be  done,  no  reasonable  kindness  be  omitted  by 
man  to  man,  which  is  not  a  violation  of  this  royal  law  ;  nor 
can  any  duty  be  performed,  which  it  does  not  \irtually 
enjoin. 

If  it  needed  any  other  quality  to  recommend  it,  we  might 
easily  show  that  it  has  numerous  excellences  fully  answerable 
to  its  comprehensiveness.  It  is  a  rule  as  portable  as  our  self- 
love,  and  identical  with  it ;  for,  what  is  it  but  the  love  of  self 
applied  to  the  destruction  of  selfishness,  by  being  pressed 
into  the  service  of  universal  benevolence  ?  It  is  the  measur- 
ing-rod which  is  never  out  of  the  hand  of  self  for  its  own 
purpose,  legalized  and  applied  to  mete  out  the  same  measure 
for  the  good  of  others.  It  seeks  to  equalize  vicissitude  ;  to 
make  a  community  of  our  joys  and  sorrows,  by  distributing 
them  as  nearly  into  equal  parts  as  if  we  knew^  not  the  portion 
which  would  fall  to  us.  It  aims  to  transform  self  into  an 
impartial  judge,  by  giving  it  an  interest  in  all  the  decisions 
which  it  pronounces  on  others.  By  compelling  our  selfishness 
to  do  the  work  of  destruction  on  itself,  it  makes  us  content  to 
number  as  one,  as  a  mere  unit  in  the  sum  of  the  species ;  and 
to  seek  the  welfare  of  the  whole  as  the  shortest  and  the  only 
way  of  promoting  our  individual  interest. 

Let  this  infallible  law  be  understood  and  applied,  and  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  313 

trade  of  the  casuist  would  be  gone  In  the  department  of  social 
life  ;  for  self-interest,  prompt  and  even  intuitive  when  it  sits 
in  judgment  for  its  own  ends,  would  have  only  to  imagine  a 
momentary  self-transmigration,  and  to  transfer  its  judgments 
for  the  advantage  of  others. 


SIMON    GREENLEAF. 

[Testimony  of  the  Evangelists.     New  York:  1S74.     Pp.  51-53.] 

Among  internal  marks  of  truth  in  the  narratives  of  the 
Evangelists,  may  be  mentioned  the  nakedness  of  the  narra- 
tives ;  the  absence  of  all  parade  by  the  writers,  about  their  own 
integrity  ;  of  all  anxiety  to  be  believed,  or  to  impress  others 
with  a  good  opinion  of  themselves  or  their  cause  ;  of  all  marks 
of  wonder,  or  desire  to  excite  astonishment  at  the  greatness  of 
the  events  they  record  ;  and  of  all  appearance  of  design  to 
exalt  their  Master.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  apparently  the 
most  perfect  indifference  on  their  part,  whether  they  are 
believed  or  not ;  or,  rather,  the  evident  consciousness  that  they 
are  recording  events  well  known  to  all  in  their  own  country 
and  times,  and  undoubtedly  to  be  believed,  like  any  other 
matter  of  public  history,  by  readers  in  all  other  countries  and 
ages.  It  is  worthy,  too,  of  especial  observation,  that,  though 
the  Evangelists  record  the  unparalleled  sufferings  and  cruel 
death  of  their  beloved  Lord,  and  this  too  by  the  hands  and 
with  the  consentine  voices  of  those  on  whom  he  had  conferred 
the  greatest  benefits,  and  their  own  persecutions  and  dangers, 
yet  they  have  bestowed  no  epithets  of  harshness  or  even  of 
just  censure  on  the  authors  of  all  this  wickedness ;  but  have 
everywhere  left  the  plain  and  unencumbered  narrative  to  speak 
for  itself,  and  the  reader  to  pronounce  his  own  sentence  of 
condemnation.  Like  true  witnesses,  who  have  nothing  to  gain 
or  to  lose  by  the  event  of  the  cause,  they  state  the  facts,  and 
leave  them  to  their  fate.  Their  simplicity  and  artlessness,  also, 
should  not  pass  unnoticed,  in  readily  stating  even  those  things 


314  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

most  disparaging  to  themselves.  Their  want  of  faith  in  their 
Master,  their  dulness  of  apprehension  of  his  teachings,  their 
strifes  for  pre-eminence,  their  inchnation  to  call  fire  from 
heaven  upon  their  enemies,  their  desertion  of  their  Lord  in 
his  hour  of  extreme  peril,  —  these,  and  many  other  incidents 
tending  directly  to  their  own  dishonor,  are  nevertheless  set 
down  with  all  the  directness  and  sincerity  of  truth,  as  by  men 
writing  under  the  deepest  sense  of  responsibility  to  God. 

The  great  character  the  Evangelists  have  portrayed  is  per- 
fect. It  is  the  character  of  a  sinless  being,  of  one  supremely 
wise  and  supremely  good.  It  exhibits  no  error,  no  sinister 
intention,  no  imprudence,  no  ignorance,  no  evil  passion,  no 
impatience  ;  in  a  word,  no  fault ;  but  all  is  perfect  uprightness, 
innocence,  wisdom,  goodness,  and  truth.  The  mind  of  man 
has  never  conceived  the  idea  of  such  a  character,  even  for 
his  gods  ;  nor  has  history  or  poetry  shadowed  it  forth.  The 
doctrines  and  precepts  of  Jesus  are  in  strict  accordance  with 
the  attributes  of  God,  agreeably  to  the  most  exalted  idea  which 
we  can  form  of  them,  either  from  reason  or  from  revelation. 
They  are  strikingly  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  mankind,  and 
yet  are  delivered  with  a  simplicity  and  majesty  wholly  divine. 
He  spake  as  never  man  spake.  He  spake  with  authority,  yet 
addressed  himself  to  the  reason  and  understanding  of  man  ; 
and  he  spoke  with  wisdom  which  men  could  neither  gainsay 
nor  resist.  In  his  private  life  he  exhibits  a  character  not 
merely  of  strict  justice,  but  of  overflowing  benignity.  He  is 
temperate  without  austerity,  his  meekness  and  humility  are 
signal,  his  patience  invincible;  truth  and  sincerity  illustrate  his 
whole  conduct;  every  one  of  his  virtues  is  regulated  by  con- 
summate i)rudence;  and  he  both  wins  the  love  of  his  friends, 
and  extorts  the  wonder  and  admiration  of  his  enemies. 

He  is  represented  in  every  variety  of  situation  in  life,  from 
the  height  of  worldly  grandeur,  amid  the  acclamations  of  an 
admiring  multitude,  to  the  deepest  abyss  of  human  degradation 
and  woe;,  apparently  deserted  by  God  and  man. 

Yet  everywhere  he  is  the  same,  displaying  a  character  of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  3  i  5 

unearthly  perfection,  symmetrical  in  all  its   proportions,  and 
encircled  with  splendor  more  than  human. 

Either  the  men  of  Galilee  were  men  of  superlative  wisdom 
and  extensive  knowledge  and  experience,  and  of  deeper  skill 
in  the  arts  of  deception  than  any  or  all  others  before  or  after 
them,  or  they  have  truly  stated  the  astonishing  things  which 
they  saw  and  heard. 


PHILLIPS    BROOKS. 

[The  Influence  of  Jesus.     New  York:  1879.     Pp.  12,  14.] 

Upon  the  race  and  upon  the  individual,  Jesus  is  always 
bringing  into  more  and  more  perfect  revelation  the  certain 
truth  that  man,  and  every  man,  is  the  child  of  God.  This  is 
the  sum  of  the  work  of  the  Incarnation.  .  .  .  JNIan  is  the 
child  of  God  by  nature.  He  is  ignorant  and  rebellious, 
the  prodigal  child  of  God  ;  but  his  ignorance  and  rebellion 
never  break  the  first  relationship.  It  is  always  a  child 
ignorant  of  his  Father  ;  always  a  child  rebellious  against  his 
Father.  This  is  what  makes  the  tragedy  of  human  history, 
and  always  prevents  human  sin  becoming  an  insignificant  and 
squalid  thing.  To  re-assert  the  fatherhood  and  childhood  as 
an  unlost  truth,  and  to  re-establish  its  power  as  the  central 
fact  of  life  ;  to  tell  men  that  they  were,  and  to  make  them 
actually  be,  the  sons  of  God, — that  was  the  purpose  of  the 
coming  of  Jesus,  and  the  shaping  power  of  his  life. 

Of  course  it  is  not  possible  to  speak  of  such  an  idea,  which 
is  indeed  the  idea  of  the  universe,  as  if  it  were  a  message 
intrusted  to  the  Son  of  God  when  he  came  to  be  the  Saviour 
of  mankind.  It  was  not  only  something  which  he  knew  and 
tauofht :  it  was  somethine  which  he  was.  No  other  truth  ever 
so  inspires  a  merely  human  teacher,  so  fills  his  whole  life  with 
itself,  so  comes  to  be  not  merely  the  creed  which  his  lips 
declare,  but  the  truth  which  his  whole  living  utters,  as  this 
truth  of  man's  childhood  to  God. 


3l6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

EUSTACE    R.    CONDER. 

[The  Basis  of  Faith.     London:   1877.     Pp.  347)  359>  367-] 

Sharply  outlined  against  the  deep  background  of  the  past, 
rising  in  serene  unapproached  grandeur  above  its  heroic 
figures  and  colossal  phantoms,  undimmed  by  the  mists  of 
intervening  ages,  one  form  withdraws  our  gaze  from  all  others. 
One  voice,  clear  in  our  ears  as  in  the  ears  of  the  men  of 
Galilee  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  still  speaks  as  no  other 
voice  ever  spoke  to  the  heart  of  universal  humanity.  One 
name  in  its  regal  power  over  men's  minds  and  hearts  contin- 
ues, and  promises  to  continue,  as  during  sixty  generations, 
"  above  every  name."  Some  half-dozen  names  —  Confucius, 
Gautama,  Pythagoras,  Socrates,  Zoroaster,  Mohammed  — 
may  for  a  moment  present  themselves  as  rivalling  the  name 
of  Jesics  in  their  dominion  over  the  faith  of  mankind  ;  but 
an  inspection  of  their  dogmas  and  institutes,  and  of  their 
influence  on  their  disciples,  will  dissipate  this. 

The  certainty  that  we  have  valid  knowledge  of  God,  and 
hold  real  personal  communion  with  him,  not  merely  as  Creator 
and  foundation  of  the  universe,  but  as  the  Father  of  spirits, 
hearer  of  prayer,  and  guide  of  trusting  souls,  must  stand  or 
fall  with  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ. 

On  any  theory  of  his  person  and  character,  Jesus  stands 
alone  among  men,  alone  in  his  relation  to  his  own  age,  and 
to  all  preceding  and  following  ages,  alone  in  his  breadth  and 
depth  of  human  tenderness  and  sympathy,  as  much  as  in  the 
peerless  grandeur  of  his  moral  and  spiritual  nature.  Nothing 
in  the  age  in  which  he  appeared,  or  in  foregoing  ages,  accounts 
for  him  ;  and  the  after-times  have  been  moulded  by  him.  His 
life  rises  sheer  from  the  dead  level  of  common  humanity,  like 
some  mountain  peak  rising  from  the  bosom  of  ocean,  girdled 
with  perpetual  summer  and  crowned  with  eternal  snow. 

The  moral  beauty  of  the  character  of  Jesus  is  one  of  those 
perfect  ideals  on  which  no  writ  of  criticism  can  be  served, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  3  I  7 

which  no  human  judgment  is  quaHfied  to  arraign  ;  but  which 
summon  human  criticism  before  their  tribunals,  and  fix  the 
standard  of  human  excellence.  Yet  it  is  as  natural  and  life- 
like as  it  is  ideally  perfect.  Its  symmetry,  grace,  and  ease 
conceal  from  us  its  colossal  proportions.  Saints,  heroes, 
sages,  the  lights  of  human  history,  occupy  each  his  several 
department  of  greatness.  None  of  them  is  great  all  round. 
We  are  not  surprised  to  find  the  loftiest  wisdom  unsympa- 
thetic, and  impatient  of  conceited  ignorance  ;  the  most  spotless 
purity  cold  and  ascetic ;  the  most  ardent  love  partial  and 
jealous ;  the  most  tender-hearted  benevolence  deficient  in 
righteous  indignation,  the  purest  zeal  in  tolerance,  the  deepest 
humility  in  nobleness.  But  in  Jesus  we  can  find  no  exagger- 
ation, no  deficiency. 

Yet  that  which  probably  impresses  our  hearts  most  in  the 
portrait  drawn  by  the  Four  Evangelists  is  not  his  blameless 
perfection,  and  remoteness  from  all  human  frailty,  but  his 
sympathy,  accessibleness,  tenderness,  and  intense  humanity. 
His  own  similitude,  which  has  sunk  ineffaceably  into  the  heart 
of  mankind,  best  represents  him  :  the  Good  Shepherd  carrying 
the  sick  lamb  in  his  arms,  bearing  home  the  lost  sheep  on  his 
shoulders,  and  laying  down  his  life  for  the  flock. 


C.    F.    SCHMID. 

[Biblical  Theology  of  the  New  Testament.    Edinburgh:  1S70.     Pp.  ir,  390] 

Jesus  himself  teaches,  but  his  whole  rich  store  of  precepts 
is  nothino-  else  than  the  commencement  of  himself  as  the 
manifested  Christ.  Every  thing  is  merely  preparation  for,  or 
explanation  and  application  of,  that  one  statement.  In  St. 
John's  Gospel  it  is  clear  that  all  the  teaching  relates  to  the 
person  of  Jesus  ;  but  in  the  other  three  also,  this  person  is 
the  centre  and  groundwork  of  the  whole  new  religion.  Here 
also  we  have,  as  the  real  essence  of  Christianity,  a  fact  on 
which  all  the  teaching  is  based,  the  history  of  an  actual  life. 


o 


1 8  2-ESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


The  whole  body  of  apostoHc  doctrine  has  reference  to  the 
same  fact,  especially  to  the  turning-point  of  the  life  of  Jesus. 
To  this,  however,  is  added  a  further  historic  basis,  the  com- 
munication of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  the  life  of  the  community 
of  believers  in  Jesus  which  is  founded  therein.  These  two 
leading  facts,  then,  are  the  groundwork  an4  hypothesis  on 
which  all  development  of  apostolic  doctrine  must  rest. 

Peter  very  decidedly  sets  forth  the  fact  of  Christ  being  a 
model  for  us.  We  have  already  seen  that  he  premised  his 
sinlessness  ;  but  we  may  also  notice  in  some  passages,  espe- 
cially I  Pet.  ii.  21-23,  this  sinlessness  is  linked  on  to  his 
typical  character.  Also  in  i  Pet.  iii.  18,  Christ  is  looked 
upon  as  a  pattern,  again,  in  a  similar  connection.  Thus  the 
historical  life  of  Christ  on  earth  is  represented  as  a  pattern 
especially  in  its  sufferings,  and  as  a  pattern  in  peculiar  refer- 
ence to  truth,  patience,  and  love  of  one's  enemies. 


CHARLES   ADOLPHUS    ROW. 

[The  Jesus  of  the  Evangelists.     London:  1S6S.     Pp.  54,  Gi,6()!\ 

There  is  nothing  more  remarkable  in  the  evangelical  por- 
traiture of  the  Christ,  than  the  manner  in  which  the  humblest 
of  men  is  depicted  as  preaching  himself.  This  feature  of  his 
character  runs  throughout  the  Gospels,  and  is  indissolubly 
interwoven  with  their  structure.  It  is  impossible  to  form  any 
correct  estimate  of  the  moral  teaching  which  the  Evangelists 
have  attributed  to  Christ,  without  taking  this  element  of  it 
into  the  deepest  consideration.   .  .  . 

In  no  other  man  would  such  an  assumption  wear  anything 
but  the  appearance  of  arrogance.  His  sense  of  worthiness 
seems  like  an  intuition.  How  beautifully  consistent  with  the 
character  of  him  who  was  the  Light  of  the  world  Is  the  invita- 
tion to  the  weary  and  heavy  laden  to  come  to  him  for  rest ! 
But  how  monstrous  would  that  invitation  sound  If  put  Into  the 
mouth  of  any  other  teacher  with  whom  we  are  acqunlnted! 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  319 

Let  us  conceive  of  Socrates  as  saying,  "  Take  my  yoke  upon 
you,  and  learn  of  me  ;  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in  heart,  and 
ye  shall  find  rest  unto  your  souls." 

But  our  Lord  is  depicted  as  feeling-  within  him  a  greatness 
greater  than  every  other  obligation  ;  and,  when  he  claims  the 
lordship  of  the  human  heart,  the  purest,  the  wisest,  and 
the  best  have  joined  in  the  exclamation,  "  Worthy  is  the 
Lamb ! "  .  .  . 

An  immense  distance  separates  our  Lord's  moral  teaching 
from  that  of  all  other  men.  Compared  with  that  of  all  who 
have  preceded  him,  it  presents  the  widest  catholicity  of  view. 
The  Jew  was  a  brother  to  the  Jew,  but  he  admitted  no  obliga- 
tion to  the  alien  or  the  schismatic.  The  legislator  recog-nized 
a  brotherhood  between  citizens  ;  the  philosopher  recognized  a 
brotherhood  between  the  enlightened  and  the  elevated:  but 
where  were  the  degraded,  the  slave,  and  the  barbarian  ?  But 
Jesus  compelled  the  narrow  sectarian  to  admit  that  the  law 
of  love  included  within  its  obligations  the  outcast.  Is  my 
neighbor  the  priest,  the  Levite,  or  the  Jew  ?  He  is  all  these. 
But  the  merciful  pariah  is  also  neighbor  to  the  man  of  the 
purest  blood ;  the  despised  schismatic,  to  the  member  of 
the  most  orthodox  church.  My  neighbor  is  neither  my  fellow- 
sectarian,  nor  my  fellow-countryman,  nor  my  fellow-churchman, 
but  man  in  need.  He  is  every  one  whom  Jesus  Christ  has 
loved,  for  whom  he  has  lived,  and  to  redeem  whom  he 
has  died. 


FREDERICK   D.    HUNTINGTON. 

[Christ  in  the  Christian  Year.     New  York:  1878.     P.  56.] 

This  Christ  to  come  shall  be  the  perfect  man.  In  him  all 
virtues,  all  graces,  shall  meet.  They  shall  not  only  meet,  but 
harmonize  in  him,  blending  together  in  one  matchless  man- 
hood. It  shall  not  be,  as  in  all  other  men,  the  grandest  speci- 
mens of  virtue,  where  disproportion  spoils  the  symmetr}' ; 
one-sidedness  or   limitation  clinging   to    the    highest    minds. 


320  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

But  every  thing  in  him  shall  be  tempered  faultlessly  together; 
energy  with  patience,  dignity  with  tenderness,  forbearance 
towards  the  guilty  with  indignation  at  wrong,  command  with 
obedience,  courage  with  humility,  the  fortitude  of  heroes  and 
martyrs  with  the  sensibility  of  woman,  and  the  ripe  experience 
of  saints  with  the  artlessness  of  the  child.  .  .  .  He  would  be 
humanity's  one  consummate,  immaculate  example.  He  would 
be  the  world's  one  stainless  soul. 


FREDERIC    GODET. 

[Studies  in  the  New  Testament.     New  York :  1877.    P.  21.] 

Here,  then,  we  see  human  nature  elevated,  in  the  person 
of  its  normal  representative,  into  the  possession  of  the  divine 
life,  and  become  the  organ  of  the  supreme  thought  and  will. 
Here  we  see  the  chasm  between  the  finite  and  the  infinite 
bridged  over  by  a  member  of  our  race.  If  God  is  love,  must 
not  this  have  been  the  concluding  step  of  the  ascending 
progress  he  had  planned  ?  A  higher  was  not  conceivable. 
A  conclusion  less  lofty  would  have  left  something  wanting  in 
the  development  of  divine  love.  We  have  a  right,  then,  to 
conclude  by  saying,  Jesus  was  a  real  man,  and  this  real  man 
was  brought  to  perfection. 


EDWIN   A.   ABBOTT. 

[Oxford  Sermons.     London:  1879.     Pp.  152,  164,  167,  168.] 

Now,  all  that  we  ask  for  the  Founder  of  Christianity  is, 
that  his  life  and  teaching  should  be  investigated  with  the 
same  dispassionate  fairness  with  which  we  would  approach  the 
biography  of  the  founder  of  any  other  religion.  Put  aside, 
if  you  will,  every  thing  which  is  supernatural ;  reject  even 
those  miraculous  acts  of  healing  which  are  best  authenticated, 
and  which   seem  to  me  most  certainly  true  ;    consider  Jesus 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZAR/<:rH.  321 

of  Nazareth  simply  as  a  man,  simply  as  a  teacher,  simply  as  a 
moral  reformer.  —  then,  when  you  have  done  this,  consider  his 
influence,  after  his  death,  upon  his  apostles,  on  his  enemy 
Paul,  on  those  who  have  believed  on  him  for  eighteen  centu- 
ries, on  the  age  in  which  we  now  live;  and,  when  all  is  consid- 
ered, ask  and  answer,  as  best  you  can,  the  question,  What 
manner  of  man  is  this  9  .   .   . 

In  order  to  answer  this  question,  let  us  briefly  review  the 
character  assumed  by  Jesus.  We  have  seen  that  he  spoke 
and  acted  as  one  having  authority  greater  than  that  of  the 
semi-divine  lawgiver  who  was  popularly  believed  not  to  have 
died  after  the  manner  of  men.  He  claimed  authority  to 
abrogate  the  law,  to  supersede  the  sabbath,  and  to  forgive 
sins.  He  offered  himself  to  the  disciples  as  the  type  of  per- 
fect sonship  to  God,  though  habitually  calling  himself  the  Son 
of  man.  He  called  upon  all  that  were  miserable  and  sinful 
to  come  to  him,  and  to  place  their  faith  in  him,  and  he  would 
give  them  rest,  and  guide  to  life  eternal.  In  every  respect  he 
presented  himself  to  his  followers  as  the  visible  centre  of  their 
religion,  the  image  of  the  invisible  Father. 

The  facts  of  the  life  of  this  great  Teacher  having  been 
briefly  considered,  we  return  once  more  to  the  question,  What 
mafiiier  of  7nan  is  this  f  To  such  an  appeal,  the  countryman 
of  Shakspeare  and  Bacon  will  never  be  so  dreamily  ignorant  of 
human  nature,  or  so  pusillanimously  abhorrent  of  facts,  as 
to  reply,  "  He  was  a  m-ythT  Nor  shall  he  be  able  fairly  to 
reply,  "  He  was  indeed  a  great  teacher;  but  his  work  is  now 
done,  and  we  need  some  new  revelation."  On  the  contrary, 
the  principle  that  he  revealed  and  vivified  for  us,  the  law  of 
brotherhood  among  men,  is  still  the  only  principle  whereby 
there  is  any  hope  of  ultimately  perfecting  the  human  race.  .  .  . 

Those  who  even   approximately  appreciate   the   character 
of  Christ  must  needs,  one  would  think,  recoil  from  the  thought 
that  his  life  could  have  been  a  delusion,  not  so  much  out  ot 
fear  of  lowering  their  estimate  of  Jesus,  as  from  a  terror  of  the 
tremendous  consequences  upon  their  belief  in  God  himself. 


322  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

For,  if  you  believe  that  a  good  God  governs  the  world,  how 
can  you  possibly  do  otherwise  than  reject  as  blasphemous 
the  thought  that  he  permitted  such  a  one  as  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
to  delude  himself  with  intiated  self-conceits,  to  ape  the  divin- 
est  attributes  of  the  Supreme.  —  the  powers  of  forgiving  and 
judging,  —  and  die  in  the  vain  imagination  that  he  was  the 
Redeemer  of  mankind  ?  Surely,  if  that  were  possible,  the 
deceived  would  be  morally  superior  to  the  deceiver  ;  and  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  would  be  more  worthy  of  worship  than  God. 


ANDREWS    NORTON. 


[Evidences  of  the  Genuineness  ok    the  Gospels.     Boston:  1871.     Pp.  406,   407. 

409,  410.] 

The  Founder  of  our  religion  was  unquestionably  the  most 
wonderful  individual  who  ever  appeared  on  earth.  A  Jew. 
a  Galilaean  in  humble  life,  poor,  without  literary  culture,  with- 
out worldly  power  or  influence  ;  teaching  but  a  short  time,  — 
probably  not  more  than  two  years ;  wandering  about  the 
shores  of  the  Lake  of  Galilee  and  of  the  Jordan  ;  scarcely 
entering  Jerusalem  but  to  be  driven  away  by  persecution,  till 
at  last  he  went  thither  to  perish  under  it ;  collecting  during 
his  lifetime  only  a  small  body  of  illiterate  and  often  wavering 
followers ;  addressing  men  whose  incapacity,  prejudices,  or 
hatred  continually  led  them  to  mistake  or  to  pervert  his 
meaning ;  surrounded  and  apparently  overpowered  by  his 
unbelieving  countrymen,  who  regarded  him  as  a  blasphemer, 
and  caused  him  to  suffer  the  death  of  the  most  unpitied  of 
malefactors,  —  this  person  has  wrought  an  effect  to  which 
there  is  nothing  parallel  on  the  opinions  and  on  the  condi- 
tion of  the  most  enlightened  portion  of  our  race.  The  moral 
civilization  of  the  world,  the  noblest  conceptions  which  men 
have  entertained  of  religion,  of  their  nature,  of  their  duties, 
are  to  be  tracetl  back  directly  to  him.  They  come  to  us.  not 
from  th(;  grovels  of  the  Academy,  not  from  the  walks  of  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  323 

Ilissus  which  Aristotle  frequented,  not  from  the  Painted  Por- 
tico of  Athens  where  Zeno  taught,  but  from  the  mountain  on 
which  Jesus  dehvered  his  first  recorded  discourse  ;  from  the 
synagogue  and  the  streets  of  the  small  town  of  Capernaum, 
of  which  not  a  ruin  remains  to  fix  its  site  ;  from  fishing-boats 
on  the  Lake  of  Galilee  ;  from  the  less-inhabited  tracts  —  the 
deserts,  as  they  have  been  called  —  of  Palestine  ;  from  the 
courts  of  the  Jewish  temple,  where  he  who  spake  was  con- 
fronting men  plotting  his  destruction  ;  from  the  cross  of  one 
expiring  in  agony  amid  the  savage  triumphs  of  his  enemies. 
After  witnessing  such  a  death,  his  disciples  lost  all  their 
doubts.  They  affirmed  their  Master  to  be  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  the  Son  of  God. 

The  character  of  Jesus  Christ  as  exhibited  in  any  one  of 
the  first  three  Gospels,  or  in  all  of  them  taken  together,  is 
equally  consistent  and  wonderful.  It  is,  at  the  same  time, 
a  character  to  which  nothing  in  human  history,  before  or 
after,  presents  a  parallel  or  a  resemblance.  He  appears  as 
one  acting  under  the  miraculous  conviction  that  he  was  the 
instrument  of  God,  to  assure  men,  on  his  authority,  of  their 
relations  to  him  and  to  eternity  ;  and  this  conception  of  his 
character  is  fully  sustained.  In  the  midst  of  men  who  appear, 
as  we  should  expect  the  Jews  of  that  age  to  appear,  ignorant, 
narrow-minded,  dull  in  their  perceptions,  indocile,  many  of 
them  hating  him  with  all  the  hatred  of  bigotr}^  throughout 
trials  of  every  sort,  under  external  circumstances  so  humiliat- 
ing that  we  shrink  from  the  thought  of  them,  he  shows  always 
the  same  unalterable  elevation  of  character,  requiring  no 
human  support.  We  feel  that  he  was  not  to  be  degraded 
by  any  insult,  and  that  no  praise  could  have  been  addressed 
to  him,  had  it  come  from  the  highest  of  men,  which  would 
not  have  been  a  strange  impertinence.  If  our  natural  feelings 
have  been  unperverted,  we  follow  him  ;  if  not  with  the  convic- 
tion,—  that  conviction  has  been  resisted,  —  but  certainly  with 
a  sentiment  continually  prompting  us  to  say,  "Truly  this  was 
the   Son    of   God."     But  it  is   folly  to   suppose   that  such   a 


324  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

portraiture  of  character  could  have  been  the  result  of  an 
aggregation  of  fabulous  traditionary  stories,  which  had  been 
moulded  by  different  minds,  Jewish  or  Gentile.  The  compari- 
son is  unworthy  of  the  subject ;  but  it  would  not  be  more 
absurd  to  imagine  that  the  finest  works  of  ancient  plastic  art, 
the  display  of  perfect  physical  beauty  in  the  Apollo  Belvedere, 
had  been  produced  by  putting  together  the  labors  of  different 
artists  at  different  times,  all  working  without  a  model,  this 
making  one  part  or  member,  and  that  another. 


JOHN    STUART    MILL. 

[Three  Essays  on  Religion.     New  York:   1874.     Pp.  253-255.] 

The  most  valuable  part  of  the  effect  on  the  character 
which  Christianity  has  produced,  by  holding  up  in  a  divine 
person  a  standard  of  excellence  and  a  model  for  imitation, 
is  available  even  to  the  absolute  unbeliever,  and  can  never- 
more be  lost  to  humanity.  For  it  is  Christ,  rather  than  God, 
whom  Christianity  has  held  up  to  believers  as  the  pattern  of 
perfection  for  humanity.  It  is  the  God  incarnate, — more  than 
the  God  of  the  Jews,  or  of  nature,  —  who,  being  idealized,  has 
taken  so  great  and  salutary  a  hold  on  the  modern  mind.  And 
whatever  else  may  be  taken  away  from  us  by  rational  criticism, 
Christ  is  still  left,  —  a  unique  figure,  not  more  unlike  all  his 
precursors  than  all  his  followers,  even  those  who  had  the 
direct  benefit  of  his  personal  teaching.   .   .   . 

About  the  life  and  sayings  of  Jesus  there  is  a  stamp 
personal  originality  combined  with  profound  insight ;  which, 
if  we  abandon  the  idle  expectation  of  fintling  scientific  pre- 
cision where  something  very  different  was  aimed  at,  must 
place  the  prophet  of  Nazareth,  even  in  the  estimation  of 
those  who  have  no  belief  in  his  inspiration,  in  the  very  first 
rank  of  the  men  of  sublime  genius  of  whom  our  sj^ecies  can 
boast.  When  this  pre-eminent  genius  is  combined  with  the 
qualities  of  probably  the  greatest  moral  reformer  and  martyr 


TO  JRSUS    OF  NAZARETH.  325 

to  that  mission  who  ever  existed  upon  earth,  rehgion  can- 
not be  said  to  have  made  a  bad  choice  in  pitching  on  this 
man  as  the  ideal  representative  and  guide  of  humanity ;  nor 
even  now  would  it  be  easy,  even  for  an  unbeliever,  to  find  a 
better  translation  of  the  rule  of  virtue  from  the  abstract  into 
the  concrete,  than  to  endeavor  so  to  live  that  Christ  would 
approve  our  life. 


EDMUND    H.    SEARS. 

[The  Heart  of  Christ.     Boston  :  1874  (fourth  edition).     Pp.  467.  474,  478,  479.] 

Jesus  Christ  was  more  of  a  man  than  any  other  person 
of  whom  we  have  any  history ;  for  nowhere  else  do  we  read  of 
a  humanity  where  the  compass  of  its  powers  and  attributes 
was  so  full  and  so  complete.  Its  .sublimest  heights  of  moral 
grandeur,  and  its  most  delicate  shades  of  moral  beauty,  are 
all  here.  The  manhood  of  other  men,  even  the  best  of  them, 
is  somewhat  distorted  or  defective.  There  is  strength  without 
tenderness  ;  there  is  breadth  without  depth  ;  there  is  intensity 
without  catholicity ;  there  is  clear  intellect  without  the  sweet 
and  fervent  sympathies  of  the  heart.  The  peculiarity  of  Jesus 
consists  in  the  union  of  qualities  found  elsewhere  incongruous 
and  in  separation  ;  union  in  such  majestic  and  delicate  pro- 
portion as  to  give  the  impression  of  perfect  symmetry  and 
harmony.   .   .   . 

The  egoism  of  the  Johannean  writings  is  so  stupendous 
and  persistent,  that  we  are  shut  up  to  the  conclusion,  that  if 
Christ  was  a  "  mere  man,"  though  a  sage  or  prophet,  he  was 
a  man  whose  self-assertion  transcended  all  the  bounds  of 
reason  and  modesty.  For  what  is  the  bearing  of  sage  or 
prophet  who  have  any  just  apprehension  of  their  function 
and  calling?  According  to  the  fulness  and  depth  of  their 
wisdom  and  inspiration,  so  will  the  entireness  of  their  self- 
abnegation  be.   .   .   . 

Such  self-assertion  was  never  heard   of  before   or   since, 


-.2  6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 


o 


except  among  men  of  disordered  intellect.  Why  do  we  read 
it  in  the  evangelic  narratives  without  being  shocked  with  it  ? 
Plainly,  because  of  its  place  and  setting  in  a  biography  which 
is  unlike  any  other,  and  which  none  of  the  scales  of  human 
grandeur  are  competent  to  measure,  and  where  the  entire 
harmony  and  proportion  are  not  broken  but  preserved.  But 
take  out  this  egoism,  and  try  to  fit  it  into  the  life  of  any  other 
great  man,  prophet,  apostle,  or  sage.  .  .  .  They  resolve  them- 
selves into  nothingness  as  fast  as  possible  ;  and  are  more 
conscious  than  ever  of  a  human  infirmity  which  must  not 
fling  its  shadow  across  the  sunlight  of  God.  If  we  think  this 
was  owing  to  any  usages  of  speech  peculiar  to  the  men  them- 
selves, we  have  only  to  take  any  of  our  modern  apostles  of 
truth,  and  try  to  fit  such  egoism  into  the  frame  of  their 
history. 

MARK    HOPKINS. 

[Evidences  of  Christianity.     Boston:  1867.     Pp.  212,  213,  240,  242,  246,  251,  255.] 

• 

In  an  abstract  system  of  philosophy,  we  do  not  inquire 
what  the  character  of  its  author  was.  The  truth  of  the  system 
of  Plato,  or  of  Adam  Smith,  or  of  Jeremy  Bentham,  does  not 
depend  on  the  question  whether  they  were  good  or  bad  men  ; 
but  if  it  could  be  shown  that  Christ  was  a  bad  man,  —  nay, 
if  we  were  simply  to  withdraw  his  character  and  acts,  —  the 
whole  system  would  collapse  at  once.  His  character  stands 
as  the  central  orb  of  the  system,  and  without  it  there  would 
be  no  effectual  light  and  no  heat.  This  arises  from  two 
causes.  The  first  is  the  very  striking  peculiarity,  that  the 
author  of  Christianity  claims  not  merely  belief  but  affection. 
What  would  have  been  thought  of  Socrates  or  Plato,  if  they 
had  not  merely  taught  mankind,  but  if  they  and  their  disciples 
had  set  up  a  claim  that  they  should  be  loved  by  the  whole 
human  race  with  an  affection  exceeding  that  of  kindred  ?  But 
if  he  is  to  be  thus  loved  by  all  men,  he  must  first  place  himself 
in  the  relation  to  them  of  a  personal  benefactor,  and  then,  by 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  327 

the  very  laws  of  affection,  he  must  present  a  character  which 
ought  to  call  forth  their  love. 

The  second  cause  why  the  character  of  Christ  is  essential 
is,  that  in  the  moral  and  spiritual  world  power  is  manifested 
and  movement  is  effected  only  by  action.  A  moral  system 
must  indeed,  like  any  thing  else,  be  the  object  of  the  intellect ; 
but  no  abstract  system  of  moral  truth,  no  precepts  merely 
enunciated  but  not  embodied  and  manifested  in  actual  life, 
could  ever  have  been  the  means  of  moral  life  to  the  world. 
Men  need  not  only  truth,  but  life,  —  the  truth  and  life 
embodied.  They  need  a  leader,  some  one  to  go  before  them 
as  the  captain  of  their  salvation,  whose  voice  they  can  hear 
saying,  "  Follow  me."  While  therefore,  in  all  other  systems, 
the  character  of  the  founder  is  of  very  little  importance,  it  is 
vital  here.   .   .   . 

It  was  not  in  the  power  of  man  to  form  a  conception  of  L 
the  character  of  Christ  before  he  came.  It  is  one  thing  to 
recognize  a  perfect  character  as  such,  when  it  is  presented, 
and  quite  another  so  to  combine  the  qualities  as  to  form  such 
a  character,  and  to  manifest  it  in  action.  It  is  at  this  point 
that  we  find  all  the  difference  between  the  common  power  of 
judging  of  the  productions  of  genius  in  the  fine  arts,  and 
of  producing  models  of  excellence  in  those  arts  ;  and  I  do  not 
hesitate  to  say,  that,  as  a  work  of  art,  a  product  of  genius, 
simply,  the  exhibition  in  life  of  a  perfect  model  of  human 
nature  would  be  the  highest  conceivable  attainment.  That 
man  has  genius  who  can  embody  the  perfection  of  material 
forms  in  his  imagination,  and  cause  those  forms  to  live  before 
us  in  the  marble,  on  the  canvas,  or  on  the  printed  page  ;  and 
he  has  higher  genius  still  who  can  arrange  the  elements  of 
character  into  new  yet  natural  combinations,  and  cause  his 
personages,  as  organized  and  consistent  wholes,  to  speak  and 
act  before  us.  In  all  these  cases  where  Michael  Angelo 
produces  a  statue,  or  Allston  a  painting,  or  Milton  a  land- 
scape, or  Shakspeare  a  character,  we  can  judge  of  it  though 
we  could  not  have  made  the  combination.     It  is,  indeed,  the 


328  TESTIMONY   OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

great  prerogative  of  genius  to  produce  thoughts,  and  forms, 
and  characters,  and  I  will  add  here  actions,  of  which  other 
men  recognize  the  excellence,  but  which  they  could  not  have 
produced.  Yes,  I  add  actions ;  for,  if  the  conception  and 
delineation  of  an  original  course  of  action  require  genius,  it 
must  be  equally  required,  and  in  combination  too  with  high 
practical  qualities,  to  realize  that  same  conception  in  the 
bolder  relief  of  actual  life.  The  power  to  act  thus  does  not 
always,  perhaps  not  generally,  involve  the  power  of  delineation, 
but  it  does  involve  the  very  highest  form  of  genius,  and 
something  more  ;  and  it  is  only  because  there  is  genius  that 
expresses  itself  in  great  action,  that  that  of  delineation  has 
either  dignity  or  worth. 

Now,  as  the  highest  effort  of  genius  in  statuary  would  be 
to  produce  a  perfect  human  form,  one  of  which  it  might 
be  said,  that,  though  no  form  in  nature  ever  equalled  it,  yet 
that  every  form  was  perfect  in  proportion  as  it  approximated 
towards  it,  so  it  would  be  the  highest  conceivable  effort  of 
genius,  involving  its  most  complex  elements,  to  present,  as  an 
organized  and  consistent  whole,  and  to  cause  to  speak  and 
act  before  us  in  all  the  diversified  relations  of  life,  a  perfect 
human  being,  —  one  of  whom  it  might  be  said,  that,  though 
no  other  ever  manifested  the  same  excellence,  yet  that  all 
others  were  excellent  in  proportion  as  they  approximated 
towards  him.  Philosopher,  man  of  genius  and  of  taste,  here 
is  a  task  for  you.  We  challenge  you  to  it.  Would  you,  could 
you,  not  merely  describe  in  general  terms,  but  present  in 
detail,  the  words  and  actions  even  of  a  consistent  and  perfect 
piety  ?  No  :  you  would  not,  and  you  could  not.  Attempts 
had  often  been  made  to  portray  a  model  character,  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  it  was  within  the  power  of  human  genius  ; 
and  when  the  majestic,  the  simple,  the  beautiful,  the  perfect 
character  of  Christ  appeared,  it  was  seen  how  poor  those 
attempts  had  been.  Certainly,  applying  the  most  philosophical 
tests,  if  the  Evangelists  did  invent  this  character,  they  mani- 
fested higher  genius  than  any  other  men  that  ever  lived.     But 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  329 

if  the  bare  representation  of  such  a  character  would  be  so 
difficult,  who  could  have  thought  of  really  being  such  a 
person,  of  expressing  it  in  life  and  action  ? 

I  do  not  regard  the  setting  of  a  perfect  example,  in  every 
thing  that  may  strictly  be  called  a  duty,  as  comprising  every 
thing  that  should  belong  to  a  perfect  humanity.  A  perfect 
humanity  implies  a  sensibility,  a  refinement,  a  grace,  a  beauty 
of  character,  which  cannot  be  said  to  be  required  by  duty. 
And  all  these  the  Saviour  had  in  the  highest  degree.  There 
was  no  pure  and  exquisite  emotion  of  human  nature  to  which 
he  was  not  keenly  alive  ;  and  it  is  the  union  in  him  of  every 
thing  that  is  tender  and  gentle  with  those  higher  and  sterner 
qualities  which  renders  him  a  fit  example,  not  for  man  only, 
but  for  woman.  How  just  and  perfect  must  have  been  his 
perception  of  the  beauties  of  nature,  who  could  say  of  the 
lilies  of  the  field,  that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not 
arrayed  like  one  of  these  !  In  all  the  attributes  in  which 
Christ  was  placed,  in  all  the  words  that  he  uttered,  there  is 
nothing  unseemly,  or  offensive  to  a  just  taste.  His  suscepti- 
bilities to  both  joy  and  suffering  were  intense.  He  rejoiced 
in  spirit,  and  his  joy  instantly  burst  forth  in  devout  thanks- 
giving. The  innocence  of  children  engaged  his  affection. 
His  heart  was  open  to  impressions  of  friendship. 

In  all  these  respects,  —  in  his  piety,  in  his  benevolence, 
and  other  virtues,  in  the  refinement  and  deiicacy  of  his 
character,  —  he  is  a  suitable  example  for  us.  But,  as  difficult 
as  it  must  have  been  to  present  in  action  this  combina- 
tion of  human  excellences,  it  must  have  been  much  more  so 
to  combine  with  them  those  qualities,  and  that  deportment, 
which  were  appropriate  to  him  as  the  Messiah  and  Saviour 
of  the  world.  Is  it  possible  that  he  who  claimed  to  be  greater 
than  Solomon,  to  command  legions  of  angels,  to  raise  the 
dead,  —  who  spoke  of  himself  as  the  Son  of  God,  and  as 
the  final  Judge  of  the  world,  —  should  so  move,  and  speak, 
and  act,  as  to  sustain  a  character  compatible  with  these  high 
pretensions,  and  yet  have  the  condescension  and  gentleness 


330  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

and  meekness  of  Christ  ?  And  yet  such  is  the  character 
presented  by  the  EvangeHsts.  There  is  no  break,  no  incon- 
gruity. Like  his  own  seamless  garment,  the  character  is 
one.  He  seems  to  combine  with  perfect  ease  these  elements 
apparently  so  incompatible.  This,  I  confess,  excites  my 
astonishment.  The  presentation  of  a  perfect  manhood  in  a 
lowly  station  had  been  beyond  the  power  of  human  genius  : 
but  when  this  is  combined  with  the  proprieties  and  requisi- 
tions of  a  public  character,  and  an  office  so  exalted  as  that 
of  the  Messiah  and  the  Judge  of  the  world,  then  I  have  an 
intuitive  conviction  that  I  stand  in  the  presence  of  no  human 
invention  ;  then  this  character  presents  itself  to  me  with  the 
grandeur  and  wonder  that  belong  to  the  great  mountains  and 
the  starry  heavens. 

According  to  the  idea  of  many,  the  claim  to  set  a  perfect 
example  involves  the  claim  to  be  perfectly  sinless.  But  in 
some  respects  the  claim  to  be  sinless  involves  more  than 
the  claim  to  exhibit  a  perfect  model  of  humanity,  since  the 
exhibition  respects  an  outward  manifestation  ;  and  who  can 
say  that  it  may  not  be  compatible  with  some  wrong  feeling 
or  affection  ?  And  in  some  respects,  again,  the  claim  to  be 
a  model  man  is  more  extensive  than  that  to  be  perfectly 
sinless.  A  human  being  might  be  sinless,  and  be  destitute 
of  many  of  the  perfections  of  the  character  of  Christ.  And 
then,  again,  these  claims  look  in  such  different  directions,  and 
respect  such  entirely  different  objects,  that  there  is  a  propriety 
in  considering  them  apart.  The  claim  to  present  a  perfect 
manhood  has  respect  to  the  wants  of  man  ;  the  claim  to  be 
sinless  has  respect  to  the  relations  of  the  individual  to  God. 
and  to  his  fitness  to  be  a  redeemer  from  sin.  It  must,  I  think, 
be  conceded,  that  he  who  would  deliver  others  from  the  power 
of  sin  must  himself  be  free  from  its  power.  —  be  entirely 
above  and  aloof  from  it.  While,  therefore,  we  can  conceive  of 
an  exhibitio7i  of  our  nature  that  would  appear  to  us  faultless, 
while  we  may  not  be  certain  that  it  was  sinless,  yet  we  cannot 
conceive  of  one  coming  as  a  redeemer  and  deliverer  from  sin. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  331 

who  had  himself  ever  swerved  from  moral  rectitude,  even  in 
thought  or  feeling.  But  since  the  great  purpose  for  which 
Christ  came  was  to  "  save  his  people  from  their  sins,"  it 
became  necessary  that  he  should  himself  be,  and  claim  to  be, 
entirely  free  from  sin. 

That  Christ  made  this  claim,  and  that  his  disciples  made 
it  for  him,  there  can  be  no  doubt.  They  made  it  impliedly, 
and  they  made  it  expressly.  Christ  said,  "  Which  of  you 
convinceth  me  of  sin  ?  "  that  he  did  always  those  things  which 
pleased  the  Father ;  that  he  was  one  with  the  Father.  Peter 
says  expressly,  that  "  he  did  no  sin,"  that  "  he  was  the  holy 
one  and  the  just ;  "  and  Paul  says  that  he  was  "  holy,  harmless, 
undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners." 

But  what  a  claim  is  this,  —  a  claim  never  made  by  any 
other  human  being!  Such  a  claim,  the  most  extraordinary 
and  the  most  difficult  to  be  sustained,  of  any  that  was  ever  set 
up,  while  it  is  implied  in  the  idea  of  a  redeemer  from  sin, 
must  have  been  fatal  to  any  impostor.  Is  this  claim  admitted, 
or  is  it  denied  ?  If  it  is  admitted,  the  claims  of  Christianity 
are  admitted  with  it.  If  it  is  denied,  the  claims  of  Christian- 
ity as  a  religion  are  denied  ;  for  as  a  mode  of  delivery  from 
sin,  and  of  salvation,  its  whole  value  turns  upon  this.  Men 
may  have  what  knowledge  they  please  of  external  evidences, 
and  of  mere  facts,  but  this  can  never  work  a  spiritual  regen- 
eration. They  must  come  to  Christ,  and  believe  in  him  as  a 
sinless  Redeemer,  or  there  can  no  virtue  go  out  of  him  for 
their  spiritual  healing. 

The  proof  that  Christ  was  a  sinless  being  will  be  founded, 
first,  on  the  same  facts  that  prove  his  perfect  example.  Here, 
too,  we  may  properly  receive  his  own  testimony,  since  he 
could  not  have  been  deceived  on  this  point.  His  perfect 
sinlessness  is  also  to  be  inferred  from  the  effects  produced  by 
his  life  upon  his  disciples  ;  from  its  effects  upon  the  world  ; 
and  from  the  fact  that,  as  the  mind  of  an  individual  becomes 
more  pure  and  elevated,  he  perceives  a  greater  purity  and 
elevation    in    the    character  of   Christ,   so    that,   to   whatever 


332  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

height  he  may  attain,  he  still  perceives  the  majestic  form  of 
the  Redeemer  moving  before  him.  .   .   . 

When  we  look  at  his  discourses,  at  their  calmness,  at  their 
deep  insight  and  profound  wisdom  ;  when  we  see  that  the 
discoveries  of.  all  ages  have  only  shed  lustre  upon  their  wis- 
dom, and  that  the  wisest  and  best  portion  of  the  race  now 
sit  at  his  feet  as  their  instructor ;  when  we  see  the  more  than 
propriety,  the  self-possession,  the  dignity,  of  his  deportment 
under  the  most  trying  circumstances, — we  feel  that  not  a  voice 
from  heaven  could  make  it  more  certain  that  his  was  not  a 
crazed  or  a  weak  or  an  unbalanced  intellect.  This  fact  is 
borne  witness  to  by  the  light  of  its  own  evidence  :  it  shines 
by  its  own  brightness. 

Did  he,  then,  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  mind,  put  forth 
those  claims  with  the  intention  to  deceive  others  ?  This,  as  I 
have  just  intimated,  I  hold  to  be  impossible.  No  impostor 
of  common  sense  could  have  had  the  folly  to  prefer  such 
claims.  But  if  this  consideration  is  conclusive,  how  much 
more  is  that  drawn  from  the  moral  character  of  Christ ! 
Look  at  his  unaffected  and  all-pervading  piety,  at  his  universal 
and  self-sacrificing  benevolence,  look  at  his  purity  and  eleva- 
tion above  the  world,  listen  to  his  prayers  for  his  murderers 
on  the  cross,  and  say,  Is  it  possible  that  through  all  this  he 
was  meditating  a  scheme  of  deception  deeper,  more  exten- 
sive, involving  greater  sacrifices  and  sufferings,  and  more 
ultimate  disappointment  to  human  hope,  than  any  other?  Do 
we  not  know  that  this  was  not  so?  If  we  could  believe  this, 
would  not  that  faith  in  goodness,  which  is  the  vital  element  in 
the  atmosphere  of  our  moral  life,  be  destroyed  ?  and  what 
would  remain  to  us  but  the  stifling  and  oppressive  and  deso- 
lating conviction  that  there  could  be  no  ground  of  faith  in  any 
indications  of  goodness  ?  We  cannot  believe  this  :  we  will  not 
believe  it.  Take  away,  if  you  will,  the  vital  element  of  the  air, 
disrobe  the  sun  of  its  beams,  but  remove  not  from  me  this  life 
of  my  life.  Leave  to  me  the  full-orbed  and  unshorn  bright- 
ness of  the  character  of  Christ,  the  Sun  of  righteousness. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  333 

HENRY    PARRY    LIDDON. 

[Bampton  Lectures  for  1866.     London  :   1867.     Pp.  290-294,  486,  487.] 

The  closest  analysis  of  the  actual  human  life  of  Jesus 
reveals  a  moral  portrait  not  only  unlike  that  we  have  witnessed 
before  or  since,  but  especially  remarkable  in  that  it  presents 
an  entirely  balanced  and  entirely  harmonious  representation 
of  all  the  normal  elements  of  our  perfected  moral  nature. 
What  are  the  features  in  that  perfectly  harmonious  moral  life, 
upon  which  the  reverence  and  the  love  of  Christians  dwells 
most  constantly,  most  thankfully,  most  enthusiastically  ? 

I  say,  first  of  all,  that  Jesus  Christ  was  sincere.  He  pos- 
sessed that  one  indispensable  qualification  for  any  teacher, 
especially  for  a  teacher  of  religion.  He  believed  in  what  he 
said  without  reserve,  and  he  said  what  he  believed  without 
regard  to  consequences.  Material  error  you  may  pardon,  if  it 
be  error  which  in  good  faith  believes  itself  to  be  truth.  But 
evident  insincerity  you  cannot  pardon ;  you  cannot  regard 
with  any  other  sentiment  than  that  of  indignation,  the  con- 
scious propagation  of  what  is  known  to  be  false,  or  even  to  be 
exaggerated.  If  any  could  doubt  our  Lord's  sincerity,  it  might 
suffice,  among  the  facts  which  irresistibly  prove  this  truth,  to 
point  to  his  dealings  with  persons  who  followed  and  trusted 
him.  It  is  easy  to  denounce  the  errors  of  men  who  oppose 
us  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  be  always  perfectly  outspoken  with 
those  who  love  us,  or  who  look  up  to  us,  or  whose  services 
may  be  of  use  to  us,  and  who  may  be  alienated  by  our  out- 
spokenness. Now,  Jesus  Christ  does  not  merely  drag  forth  to 
the  light  of  day  the  hidden  motives  of  his  powerful  adver- 
saries, that  he  may  exhibit  them  with  so  mercifully  implacable 
an  accuracy,  in  all  their  baseness  and  pretension.  He  exposes, 
with  equal  impartiality,  the  weakness  or  the  unreality  or  the 
self-deception  of  others  who  already  regard  him  with  affection, 
or  who  desire  to  espouse  his  cause.  A  multitude  which  he 
has  fed  miraculously  returns  to  seek  him  on    the    following 


334  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

day ;  but  instead  of  silently  accepting  this  tacit  proof  of  his 
popular  power,  he  observes,  "  Ye  seek  me,  not  because  ye  saw 
the  miracles,  but  because  ye  did  eat  of  the  loaves  and  were 
filled."  On  another  occasion,  we  are  told,  "  there  went  great 
multitudes  with  him  ;  "  he  turns,  warns  them  that  all  human 
affections  must  be  sacrificed  to  his  service,  and  that  none  could 
be  his  disciple  who  does  not  take  up  the  cross.  He  solemnly 
bids  men  count  the  cost  "before  they  build  the  tower"  of 
discipleship.  He  is  on  the  point  of  being  deserted  by  all, 
and  an  apostle  protests  with  fervid  exaggeration  that  he  is 
ready  to  go  with  him  to  prison  or  to  death.  But  our  Lord, 
instead  of  at  once  welcoming  the  affection  which  dictated  this 
protestation,  pauses  to  show  Simon  Peter  how  little  he  really 
knew  of  the  weakness  of  his  own  heart.  With  the  woman 
of  Samaria,  with  Simon  the  Pharisee,  with  the  Jews  in  the 
temple,  with  the  rich  young  man,  it  is  ever  the  same  ;  Christ 
cannot  flatter,  he  cannot  dispfuise  ;  he  cannot  but  set  forth 
truth  in  its  limpid  purity.  Such  was  his  moral  attitude 
throughout ;  sincerity  was  the  mainspring  of  his  whole  thought 
and  action  ;  and  when  he  stood  before  the  judges  he  could 
exclaim,  in  this  as  in  a  wider  sense,  "To  this  end  was  I  born, 
and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  should  bear 
witness  unto  the  truth."  Surely  this  sincerity  of  our  holy 
Saviour  is  even  at  this  hour  a  main  secret  of  his  attractive 
power.  Others,  we  know,  may  flatter  and  deceive  us  till  at 
length  we  grow  sick  and  weary  at  heart  of  the  w^orld,  from 
which  truth,  in  her  stern  simplicity,  might  sometimes  seem  to 
have  fled.  But  Jesus  Christ,  speaking  to  us  from  the  Gospel 
pages,  or  speaking  in  the  secret  chambers  of  conscience,  is  a 
monitor  whom  we  can  trust  to  tell  us  the  unwelcome  truth  ; 
and  could  we  conceive  of  him  as  false,  he  would  no  longer  be 
himself  in  our  thought ;  he  would  not  be  changed  ;  he  would 
simply  have  disappeared. 

Jesus  Christ  was  unselfish.  His  life  was  a  prolonged  act 
of  self-sacrifice,  and  sacrifice  of  self  is  the  practical  expression 
and   measure   of  unselfishness.     It  misrht  have  seemed  that 

o 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  335 

where  there  was  no  sin  to  be  curbed  or  worn  away  by  sorrow 
and  pain,  there  room  might  have  been  found  for  a  lawful 
measure  of  self-satisfaction.  But  even  "  Christ  pleased  not 
himself;"  "he  sought  not  his  own  glory,"  he  "came  not  to 
do  his  own  will."  His  body  and  his  soul,  with  all  the  faculties, 
the  activities,  the  latent  powers  of  each,  were  offered  to  the 
Divine  will.  His  self-sacrifice  included  the  whole  range  of 
his  human  thought  and  affection  and  action  ;  it  lasted  through- 
out his  life  ;  its  highest  expression  was  his  death  upon  the 
cross.  It  is  this  disinterestedness,  this  devotion  to  the  real 
interests  of  human  kind,  this  radical  antagonism  of  his  char- 
acter to  that  vile  thinor  selfishness,  which  in  our  better 
moments  we  men  hate  in  ourselves,  and  which  we  always  hate 
in  others.  —  it  is  this  unrivalled  and  majestic  renunciation  of 
all  that  has  no  object  beyond  self,  which  has  won  to  Jesus 
Christ  the  heart  of  mankind.   .   .   . 

As  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,  as  the  consoler 
of  those  who  suffer,  as  the  helper  of  those  who  want,  Jesus 
Christ  is  at  home  among  us.  We  can  copy  him,  not  merely 
in  the  outward  activities  of  charity,  but  in  its  inward  temper  ; 
we  can  copy  the  tenderness,  the  meekness,  the  patience,  the 
courage,  which  shine  forth  from  his  perfect  manhood. 

His  human  perfections  indeed  constitute  a  faultless  ideal 
of  beauty,  which,  as  moral  artists,  we  are  bound  to  keep  in 
view.  What  the  true  and  highest  model  of  human  life  is,  has 
been  decided  for  us  Christians  by  the  appearance  of  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  flesh.  For  us  it  is  settled  irrevocably.  Nor  are 
Christ's  human  perfections  other  than  human  ;  they  are  not, 
after  the  manner  of  divine  attributes,  out  of  our  reach ;  they 
are  not  designed  to  remind  us  of  what  human  nature  should 
but  cannot  be.  We  can  approximate  to  them  even  indefi- 
nitely. That  in  our  present  state  of  imperfection  we  should 
reproduce  them  in  their  fulness,  is  indeed  impossible  ;  but  it 
is  certain  that  a  close  imitation  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  is  at  once 
our  duty  and  our  privilege. 


336  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

ANDREW    PRESTON    PEABODY. 

[Christianity  and  Science.     New  York:   1875.     Pp.  47,  49,  50.] 

The  character  of  Jesus  Christ  stands  out  alone,  whether 
in  fable  or  in  history.  Viewed  in  its  human  aspects,  it  is 
entirely  unique.  There  is  a  blending,  a  harmonizing,  of  all 
seeming  contrasts  of  moral  excellence,  of  traits  any  one  of 
which  in  equal  lustre  would  have  immortalized  him  in  whom 
it  shone  forth  among  multiplied  imperfections  and  foibles,  — 
magnanimity  and  humility  ;  firmness  and  meekness  ;  uncom- 
promising justice  and  unexhausted  benevolence  ;  dignity  and 
condescension  ;  the  spirit  of  command,  and  that  of  the  lowli- 
est service  ;  purity  in  which  the  most  watchful  hostility  can 
detect  no  stain,  and  tenderness  for  the  lowest,  vilest  types  of 
depravity ;  a  walk  with  God  so  close  that  he  seemed  ever 
within  temple  gates,  and  yet  a  walk  with  man  so  genial,  so 
friendly,  loving,  and  helpful,  that  his  eyes  might  seem  never 
lifted  above  the  surrounding  world  ;  a  might  stern  and  reso- 
lute, such  as  was  never  witnessed  before  or  since  in  the  conflict 
with  evil,  and  a  submission  and  resignation  so  serene  and 
trustful,  so  gentle  and  kindly,  as  to  call  forth  the  admiration 
and  sympathy  of  men  whose  lives  had  been  passed  in  scenes 
of  warfare  and  carnage.   .   .   . 

As  to  the  features  of  Christ's  character,  we  may  say  with- 
out fear  of  contradiction,  that  they  have  commanded  the 
approval  ot  persons  of  every  age,  condition,  and  culture ; 
and  the  most  cordially,  of  the  confessedly  greatest,  wisest,  and 
best.  Whatever  objections  there  are  to  the  contents  of  the 
Gospels,  do  not  apply  to  the  character  of  Jesus  as  a  man. 
"  We  can  find  no  fault  in  him,"  has  been  the  verdict  of  his 
enemies  from  Pilate  until  now.  Nor  can  we  detect  in  him  the 
absence  of  any  virtue  or  grace  which  enters  into  our  highest 
ideal  of  human  excellence.  His,  too,  is  a  character  whose 
pre-eminent  worth  wins  universal  recognition.  Though  he  is 
a  Jew  as  to  birth   and   surroundings,   there  is  no   Hebrew  or 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  337 

Oriental  element  about  him  which  interferes  in  the  least  with 
the  appreciation  of  his  moral  supremacy  by  nationalities  of  the 
opposite  stamp.  The  German,  the  Englishman,  the  French- 
man, is  not  constrained  to  make  the  slio-htest  abatement  or 
allowance  in  estimating  his  merits.  He  belongs  equally  to  all 
ages.  He  has  no  secular  parallax.  In  the  darkest  times,  he 
has  been  acknowledged  as  supremely  perfect,  and  equally  so 
at  epochs  of  the  highest  culture,  mental  and  moral.  He  is 
transcendently  beautiful  and  glorious  to  the  rudest  aspirant 
after  goodness,  and  no  less  so  to  a  Fenelon,  a  Martyn,  an 
Oberlin,  a  Judson.  The  ignorant  woman  who  can  hardly  spell 
out  his  story  in  her  Bible  can  imagine  no  other  being  so 
lovely,  so  adorable  ;  and  he  seems  no  less  the  highest  type  of 
humanity  to  Milton,  Newton,  Locke,  Bunsen,  Faraday.  In 
the  galaxy  of  the  greatly  good,  he  is  not  a  star  a  little  brighter 
than  the  rest,  but  a  sun  in  whose  light  the  stars  grow  pale. 


JOHN  JAMES  TAYLER. 

[Discourses.     Boston:  1877.     Pp.  15,  20,  21,  24.] 

Many  have  been  the  wise  and  virtuous  of  earth  who  claim 
our  profoundest  respect,  but  we  acknowledge  them  simply  as 
men  ;  we  feel  no  disposition  to  worship  them,  —  least  of  all 
Socrates,  the  oreat  moral  teacher  of  the  Greeks,  so  often  con- 
fronted  with  Christ.  We  admire  in  him  the  subtle  disputant, 
whose  keen  logic  and  powerful  irony  dissolved  the  false 
appearances  of  sophistry,  and  exposed  to  view  the  solid 
elements  of  truth  and  justice;  but  no  devout  influence  accom- 
panied his  discourse,  or  seems  to  hallow  his  life.  Intellect  is 
ever  ascendant  in  him  over  faith  and  the  affections.  He 
grasps  the  rational  principle  of  theism,  but  wants  its  living 
soul.  His  whole  character  stands  out,  distinct  and  sharp  and 
bright,  like  an  orb  without  an  atmosphere,  unencircled  by 
the  orlorious  halo  of  relio-ious  consecration.  Turn  from  the 
Memorabilia  to  the  Gospels.     How  different  Is  the  impression 


338  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

produced  !  We  at  once  perceive  ourselves  to  be  breathing  a 
different  air.  The  heart  is  touched.  Conscience  awakens 
from  its  slumbers.  Our  aspirations  soar  above  the  earthly  and 
the  perishing.  We  have  a  sense  of  something  heavenly 
and  spiritual  investing  the  life  and  mind  of  Christ,  and  going 
forth  in  his  words  of  love  and  acts  of  healing  power,  which 
carries  our  thoughts  irresistibly  to  the  Sovereign  Spirit  of  the 
universe,  and  compels  us,  as  we  read,  to  confess  some  close, 
mysterious,  and  ineffable  communion  between  God  and 
Christ.   .   .   . 

In  Christ  we  pre-eminently  see  how  virtue  is  accomplished 
by  endeavor,  —  how  through  toil  and  trial,  through  weakness 
and  fear,  the  pure  and  true  soul  continually  advances,  and  is 
at  length  made  one  with  God,  We  see  the  divine  gradually 
triumphing  over,  and  finally  absorbing,  the  human.  Yet  how 
deeply  is  the  human  imprinted  on  all  his  history !  What 
struggles  he  passed  through !  What  terrors  he  vanquished ! 
How  fierce  and  fiery  was  that  temptation  in  the  wilderness ! 
How  insidious  the  worldly  counsel  of  Peter !  How  sad  those 
tears  that  flowed  at  the  grave  of  Lazarus !  How  heavy  and 
dark  the  sorrows  at  Gethsemane !  But  faith  was  ever  at  hand 
to  restore  the  mental  balance,  and  preserve  the  perfect  har- 
mony of  his  true  and  trusting  spirit  with  God.  In  this  full 
and  confiding  communion  with  God  as  the  source  and  prin- 
ciple of  his  moral  being,  we  find,  I  apprehend,  the  true  divinity 
of  Christ,  and  the  secret  of  that  mingled  reverence  and  love 
with  which  all  religious  hearts  have  honored  him.  All  spirit 
is  of  one  nature,  though  possessed  in  various  degrees.  As 
partakers  of  spirit,  men  are  the  children  of  God.  There  is 
a  measure  of  it  corresponding  to  the  moral  capacities  of 
humanity,  which  Christ  alone,  judging  from  the  extant  records 
of  his  life,  seems  to  have  filled  uj)  to  its  utmost  limits,  and  so 
to  have  united  our  nature  with  the  Divine.  Through  him  the 
Spirit  of  the  Father  spoke  clearly  and  intelligibly  to  men,  for 
it  is  only  a  purified  and  exalted  humanity  that  can  interpret 
the  Divine  Mind.      From  him  went  forth  the  Spirit  that  drew 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  339 

men  by  the  attracting  sympathies  of  faith  and  love  to  their 
heavenly  Father,  and  made  them  own  his  presence  in  the 
midst  of  them.  .  .  . 

The  true  believers  in  the  divinity  of  Christ  are  those  whose 
hearts  glow  with  a  kindred  fervor  when  they  meditate  on  his 
teachings  and  his  life,  and  who  feel  a  virtue  issuing  from  them 
which  enters  their  souls,  and  makes  them  better  and  happier 
men ;  they  are  those  who  are  stirred  up  by  his  holy  example  to 
do  like  things,  and  to  live  in  the  same  spirit ;  who  transcribe  his 
moral  image  into  their  lives,  and  aim  in  habitual  purpose  and 
endeavor  to  be  one  with  him  as  he  was  one  with  God.  By 
the  multiplication  of  such  hearts  and  lives,  the  whole  Church 
will  gradually  become  divine,  and  God,  its  Head  and  Founder 
and  unfailing  Protector,  be  all  in  all. 


GEORGE   PUTNAM. 

[Sermons.    Boston:  1878.    Pp.  208,  210,  212,  217.] 

I  DO  not  know  that  we  can  give  our  thoughts  a  more 
appropriate  direction,  at  this  season  of  the  celebration  of  the 
birth  of  Jesus  Christ,  than  in  considering  this  declaration  of 
the  apostle  ["  Other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that 
is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ:"  i  Cor.  iii.  11],  —  how  true  it 
was  when  he  made  it,  how  true  it  has  been  ever  since,  and 
how  true  it  is  likely  to  continue  in  the  indefinite  future. 

His  declaration  was  to  the  effect,  that  whatever  theolo- 
gical speculation  men  might  indulge  in,  w^hatever  ritual  they 
might  adopt,  whatever  church  institutions  they  might  organ- 
ize, he,  Jesus  Christ,  was,  and  was  to  continue,  the  head,  the 
centre,  the  master,  lord,  king,  captain,  or  whatever  other  title 
or  metaphor  he  might  use  to  illustrate  his  supremacy  in  reli- 
gion, his  spiritual  leadership  and  authority.  Men  might  build 
their  superstructures  variously,  but  there  was  only  one  foun- 
dation for  them  all. 

It  was  a  bold  saying  enough  when  Paul  uttered  it.     It  had 


340  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

not  much  visible  support.  There  were  but  few  Christians  in 
the  world,  and  they  w^ere  not  of  much  account  socially  and 
politically. 

The  Roman  Senate,  the  philosophers  of  Athens,  the  col- 
lege of  augury,  the  priesthood  of  the  old  religions,  would 
have  laughed  Paul  to  scorn,  had  he  spoken  thus  in  their 
presence.  But  his  words  were  already  coming  true,  and  a 
complete  fulfilment  of  them  was  hastening  on.  ...  A  great 
diversity  of  sects  and  doctrines  has  arisen,  clashing  much  w^ith 
one  another,  but  professing  and  really  striving  to  build  on 
him,  and  be  true  to  him,  steadfastly  adhering  to  him.  So 
much  is  secure.  The  man  of  Nazareth  is  sure  of  eighteen 
centuries,  at  least.  So  lonor  he  has  been  the  central  liQ-ure 
in  history,  unapproached  and  almost  unchallenged  in  his 
spiritual  headship.   .   .   . 

In  the  first  place,  if  Jesus  Christ  was  what  we  take  him 
for,  a  true  Son  of  God,  endowed,  inspired,  sent  to  teach  and 
inspire  true  religion,  we  must  infer  that  he  cannot  be  dis- 
placed or  defeated,  but  must  permanently  triumph  through 
the  omnipotence  of  God  and  the  truth. 

Nearly  all  the  most  eminent  thinkers  and  writers  in 
literature,  philosophy,  and  religion,  are  not  hostile  in  spirit 
to  Jesus  Christ,  do  not  wish  to  diminish  his  influence.  They 
are  mostly  serious  and  earnest,  if  not  devout  men.  They  are 
not  scoffers.  They  profess  the  highest  appreciation  of  Christ, 
and  regard  themselves  as  promoting  his  true  cause,  his  real 
and  legitimate  influence.  The  spirit  which  actuates  them,  as 
a  general  thing,  is  not  hostile  to  religion,  or  to  Christ  as  its 
highest  representative.   .  .   . 

The  reason,  conscience,  and  heart  fmd  nothing  in  him  to 
object  to  or  renounce,  but  every  thing  to  believe  and  love 
and  cleave  to.  The  theological  obscurations  and  doctrinal 
impediments  being  removed,  the  mind  gets  nearer  to  him, 
understands  him  better.  He  stands  out  more  clearly  to  view 
in  the  simplicity  and  beauty,  the  power,  the  truth,  and  the 
divinity,  of  his  teaching,  life,  and  spirit. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  34 1 

JAMES    MARTINEAU. 

[Hours  of  Thought  on  Sacred  Things.     Boston:  1876.     Pp.  294-296.] 

Morality  defines  downward  the  duty  of  each  ;  Hves  in  the 
midst  of  human  and  natural  details  ;  attaches  itself  to  the  par- 
ticular persons  and  concrete  businesses  of  life.  Devotion 
opens  its  arms  upwards  to  the  source  of  all ;  merges  itself  in 
the  divine  and  supernatural  infinity  ;  sighs  after  the  universal 
spirit  of  all  reality  and  ground  of  all  appearance  and  secret 
tincture  of  all  good  and  beauty.  For  neither  the  masculine 
concentration  of  the  one,  nor  the  feminine  diffusion  of  the 
other,  is  our  nature  exclusively  designed  ;  to  neither  can  it  be 
given  up  without  one-sidedness  and  perilous  excess.  If  they 
are  rarely  harmonized,  it  is  not  for  want  of  a  visible  ideal  or 
of  a  fitting  capacity.  In  Christ,  at  once  the  Son  of  man  and 
Son  of  God,  they  were  blended  without  discord  or  interfer- 
ence :  the  majesty  and  the  meekness,  the  force  for  this  world, 
the  tender  mingling  with  another,  the  percussion  upon  human 
evil,  and  the  melting  into  divine  communion.  And  in  the 
higher  mind  of  us  all,  the  possibility  exists  of  similarly  blend- 
ing all  the  seeming  opposites  that  make  up  the  equilibrium 
of  goodness,  and  drawing  into  nature  the  fair  and  happy  con- 
trasts that  begin  with  distribution,  only  that  mutual  fascination 
may  help  them  to  union.  What  but  our  own  low  ideal  is  to 
hinder  the  moulding  of  our  defective  and  broken  humanity 
into  more  Christ-like  completeness  ?  Shall  we  never  rise  to 
an  inflexible  moral  enthusiasm,  untainted  by  personal  passion  ; 
to  an  indignation  at  wrong,  kindled  only  by  reverence  for  the 
right,  and  made  persuasive  by  sympathy  with  the  wronged  ; 
to  a  transparent  simplicity  unspoiled  by  the  deepest  insight 
and  the  largest  intellectual  view  ;  to  the  fusion  of  quick  affec- 
tions with  unconquerable  will ;  to  a  passion  for  beauty  so 
loving  as  to  labor  in  the  midst  of  deformity  ;  to  such  inward 
union  with  the  Highest  as  shall  brace  the  soul  to  undismayed 
compassion  for  the  lowest  ?     Are  the  graces  of  character  never 


342  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

to  have  any  vigor,  or  its  vigor  any  grace  ?  Are  the  heroes  to 
be  forever  rude,  and  the  saints  forever  sickly?  Not  unless 
the  cross  is  to  be  forgotten,  and  its  very  shadow  to  vanish 
from  the  earth.  So  long  as  it  stands  visible,  and  fixes  any 
venerating  look,  no  poor  fragment  of  spiritual  good  can  ever 
content  the  conscience:  without  aspiring  to  the  whole,  we  fall 
at  once  from  the  disciples'  place ;  and  when  our  all  is  done, 
we  must  still  feel  ourselves  a  great  way  off.  To  have  neither 
restlessness  nor  apathy,  but  pass  freely  between  energy  and 
repose,  at  the  call  to  act  or  the  need  to  suffer ;  to  bind  wounds 
without  indulgence  to  the  sins  of  men  ;  to  have  no  tears  but 
those  of  pity ;  to  utter  no  reproach  but  as  the  true  interpreter 
of  conscience  ;  to  send  forth  no  cry  that  does  not  soften  into 
prayer ;  to  mingle  with  the  beauty  of  the  world,  yet  find  it  but 
the  symbol  of  a  more  transcendent  glory,  —  only  brings  us 
somewhat  nearer  to  that  marvellous  life  in  which  the  contra- 
dictions of  thouofht  and  the  conflicts  of  feelino-  formed  the 
very  harmony  of  a  nature  lifted  into  perfect  peace.  His  own 
picture  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  the  unconscious  reflection 
of  himself:  the  finished  and  all-blending  sphere,  where  the 
differences  are  not  indeed  lost,  but  separated  no  more,  between 
the  woman  and  the  man,  the  elder  and  the  child  ;  and  all  are 
as  the  angels  of  God,  that  serve  him  with  the  wholeness  of 
a  balanced  nature. 


^VILHELM    M.    L.    DE   WETTE. 

[Wesen  des  Chkistenthums.     Pp.  271,  273.     Quoted  by  Ullmann.] 

The  man  who  comes  without  preconceived  opinions  to  the 
life  of  Jesus,  and  who  yields  himself  up  to  the  impression 
which  it  makes,  will  feel  no  manner  of  doubt  that  he  is  the 
most  excellent  character  and  the  purest  soul  that  history 
presents  to  us.   .   .  . 

He  walked  over  the  earth  like  some  noble  beinij  who 
scarce  touched  it  with  his  feet. 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  343 

PETER    BAYNE. 

[The  Christian  Life.     Boston:  1869.    Pp.  27,  28.] 

We  still  are  unable  to  conceive  the  essential  Deity ;  but, 
if  we  continue  to  contemplate  the  Saviour,  we  rise  to  ideas 
of  the  mode  in  which  his  attributes  find  manifestation  unspeak- 
ably more  exalted  ;  we  mark  the  outgoings  of  his  love,  wis- 
dom, and  power,  with  a  clearness  inexpressibly  greater  than 
can  be  attained  by  any  observation  of  the  universe  or  study 
of  man.  The  infidelity  with  which  we  are  at  present  con- 
cerned has  expressed  fervent  admiration  of  Jesus ;  and  this 
fact  must  at  least  make  it  appear  reasonable  in  the  eyes  of  its 
followers,  that  Christians  discern  in  him  a  holiness  and  beauty 
transcending  those  of  earth.  The  might  of  the  ocean  and 
tempest,  the  strength  of  the  everlasting  hills,  the  silent 
beaming  forth,  as  in  ever-renewed  miraculous  "  vision,"  of  the 
splendor  and  opulence  of  summer,  the  illumination  of  im- 
mensity by  worlds,  may  offer  some  faint  idea  of  the  going- 
forth  of  the  power  of  Omnipotence  ;  but  there  is  a  still  more 
impressive,  and,  as  it  were,  present  manifestation  of  super- 
natural power  made  to  man,  when  the  storm  sinks  quelled 
before  the  eye  of  Jesus,  or  the  dead  comes  from  the  grave  at 
his  word.  When  the  heart  expands  with  a  love  that  embraces 
the  whole  circle  of  sentient  existence,  or  even,  by  the  bounte- 
ous imagining  of  poetic  sympathy,  first  breathes  an  ideal  life 
into  flower  and  tree,  and  then  over  them  too  sheds,  with 
Wordsworth,  the  smile  of  glowing  tenderness,  we  may  remem- 
ber there  still  linger  traces  of  the  Divine  image  in  man,  and 
faintly  imagine  the  streaming-forth  of  that  love  which  bright- 
ens the  eyes  of  the  armies  of  heaven,  and  gives  light  and  life 
to  the  universe  ;  but  can  any  manifestation  of  human  tender- 
ness bring  to  us  such  a  feeling  of  God's  love,  as  one  tear  of 
Jesus  shed  over  Jerusalem,  or  one  revering  look  into  his  eye, 
when  in  the  hours  of  mortal  agony  it  overflowed  in  love  and 
prayer  for  his  murderers  ?     We  can  attach  a  true  and  noble 


344  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

meaning  to  the  words  of  Fichte,  when  he  bids  us  watch  the 
holy  man,  because  in  what  he  ''  does,  hves,  and  loves,"  God 
is  revealed  to  us  ;  but  we  will  affirm  that  any  instance  of 
human  heroism  is  altogether  faint  and  powerless  in  enabling 
us  to  form  a  conception  of  the  holiness  of  God,  when  com- 
pared with  the  devotion  to  his  Father's  service  of  him  whose 
meat  and  drink  it  was  to  do  the  will  of  God,  and  who  died  on 
the  cross  to  make  an  atonement  for  sin. 

And  if,  in  addition  to  all  this,  Christianity  told  us  of  a 
Divine  Spirit  whose  mysterious  but  certain  influence  on  the 
mind  enabled  it  to  discern  a  glory  and  a  beauty  in  the  Saviour 
incomparably  more  exalted  than  could  otherwise  be  distin- 
guished, how  truly  might  we  assert  that  it  brought  us  into  a 
closer  nearness  to  the  divine,  than  the  most  ethereal  dreaming- 
of  mystic  trance,  or  the  most  gorgeous  imagining  of  panthe- 
istic poetry ! 

PHILIP    SCHAFF. 

[The  Person  of  Christ.     Boston:    1865.     Pp.  39-41,  42,  43,  46-50,  82-87,  104-106] 

Christ  can  be  ranked  neither  with  the  school-trained  nor 
with  the  self-trained  or  self-made  men  ;  if  by  the  latter  we 
understand,  as  we  must,  those  who,  without  the  regular  aid 
of  living  teachers,  yet  with  the  same  educational  means,  — 
such  as  books,  the  observation  of  men  and  things,  and  the 
intense  application  of  their  mental  faculties,  —  attained  to  vigor 
of  intellect  and  wealth  of  scholarship,  like  Shakspeare,  facob 
Boehme,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  others.  All  the  attempts 
made  to  bring  him  into  contact  with  Egyptian  wisdom,  or  the 
Essenic  theosophy,  or  other  sources  of  learning,  are  without 
a  shadow  of  proof,  and  explain  nothing,  after  all.  He  never 
quotes  from  books,  except  the  Old  Testament.  He  never  refers 
to  secular  history,  poetry,  rhetoric,  mathematics,  astronomy, 
foreign  languages,  natural  sciences,  or  any  of  lho.se  branches 
of  knowledge  which  make  up  human  learning  and  literature. 
He  confined  himself  strictly  to  religion.      But  from  that  centre 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  345 

he  shed  Hght  over  the  whole  world  of  man  and  nature.  In 
this  department,  unlike  all  other  great  men,  even  the  prophets 
and  the  apostles,  he  was  absolutely  original  and  independent. 
He  taueht  the  world  as  one  who  had  learned  nothine  from  it, 
and  was  under  no  obligation  to  it.  He  speaks  from  divine 
intuition,  as  one  who  not  only  knows  the  truth,  but  is  the 
truth  ;  and  with  an  authority  that  commands  absolute  submis- 
sion, or  provokes  rebellion,  but  can  never  be  passed  by  with 
contempt  or  indifference.   .   .  . 

His  public  life  lasted  only  three  years ;  and  before  he  had 
reached  the  age  of  ordinary  maturity,  he  died,  in  the  full 
beauty  and  vigor  of  early  manhood,  without  tasting  the 
infirmities  of  declining  years,  which  would  inevitably  mar 
the  picture  of  the  Regenerator  of  the  race  and  the  Prince  of 
life.  He  retained  the  dew  of  his  youth  upon  him:  he  never 
became  an  old  man.  Both  his  person  and  his  work,  every 
word  he  spoke,  and  every  act  he  performed,  has  the  freshness, 
brilliancy,  and  vigor  of  youth,  and  will  retain  it  to  the  end 
of  time.  All  other  things  fade  away.  Every  book  of  man 
loses  its  interest  after  repeated  reading.  But  the  Gospel  of 
Jesus  never  wearies  the  reader :  it  becomes  more  interesting 
the  more  it  is  read,  and  grows  deeper  at  every  attempt  to 
fathom  its  depth.  .  .  . 

We  should  naturally  suppose  that  such  an  uncommon  per- 
sonage, setting  up  the  most  astounding  claims,  and  proposing 
the  most  extraordinary  work,  would  surround  himself  with 
extraordinary  circumstances,  and  maintain  a  position  far  above 
the  vulvar  and  degraded  multitude  around  him.  We  should 
expect  something  uncommon  and  striking  in  his  look,  his 
dress,  his  manners,  his  mode  of  speech,  his  outward  life,  and 
the  train  of  his  attendants.  But  the  very  reverse  is  the  case. 
His  greatness  is  singularly  unostentatious,  modest,  and  quiet ; 
and,  far  from  repelling  the  beholder,  it  attracts  and  invites  him 
to  familiar  approach.  His  public  life  never  moved  on  the 
imposing  arena  of  secular  heroism,  but  within  the  humble 
circle  of  ever)'-day  life,  and  the  simple  relations  of  a  son,  a 


346  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

brother,  a  citizen,  a  teacher,  and  a  friend.  He  had  no  army 
to  command,  no  kingdom  to  rule,  no  prominent  station  to  fill, 
no  worldly  favors  and  rewards  to  dispense.  He  was  an  humble 
individual,  without  friends  or  patrons  in  the  Sanhedrim  or  at 
the  court  of  Herod.  He  never  mingled  in  familiar  intercourse 
with  the  relio-ious  or  social  leaders  of  the  nation,  whom  he  had 
startled  in  his  twelfth  year  by  his  questions  and  answers.  He 
selected  his  disciples  from  among  the  illiterate  fishermen  of 
Galilee,  and  promised  them  no  reward  in  this  world,  but  a 
part  in  the  bitter  cup  of  his  sufferings.  He  dined  with  publi- 
cans and  sinners,  and  mingled  with  the  commop  people, 
without  ever  condescendinof  to  their  low  manners  and  habits. 
He  was  so  poor  that  he  had  no  place  on  which  to  rest  his 
head.  Nor  had  he  learning,  art,  or  eloquence,  in  the  usual 
sense  of  the  term,  or  any  other  kind  of  power  by  which  great 
men  arrest  the  attention  and  secure  the  admiration  of  the 
world.  The  writers  of  Greece  and  Rome  were  ignorant  even 
of  his  existence  until  several  years  after  the  crucifixion.  The 
effects  of  his  mission  in  the  steady  growth  of  the  sect  of  his 
followers  forced  from  them  some  contemptuous  notice,  and 
then  roused  them  to  opposition.  .  .  . 

Jesus  of  Nazareth,  without  money  and  arms,  conquered 
more  millions  than  Alexander,  Caesar,  Mohammed,  and  Napo- 
leon. Without  science  and  learning,  he  shed  more  light  on 
things  human  and  divine  than  all  philosophers  and  scholars 
combined  ;  without  the  eloquence  of  schools,  he  spoke  such 
words  of  life  as  were  never  spoken  before  or  since,  and  pro- 
duced effects  which  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  any  orator  or 
poet ;  without  writing  a  single  line,  he  set  more  pens  in 
motion,  and  furnished  themes  for  more  sermons,  orations, 
discussions,  learned  volumes,  works  of  art,  and  sweet  songs 
of  praise,  than  the  whole  army  of  great  men  of  ancient  and 
modern  times. 

Born  in  a  manger,  and  crucified  as  a  malefactor,  he  now 
controls  the  destinies  of  the  civilized  world,  and  rules  a  spirit- 
ual  empin-  which   embraces  one-thu'd  of   the  inhabitants  of 


i 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  347 

the  globe.  There  never  was,  in  the  world,  a  life  so  unpre- 
tending, modest,  and  lowly  in  its  outward  form  and  condition, 
and  yet  producing  such  extraordinary  effects  upon  all  ages, 
nations,  and  classes  of  men.  The  annals  of  history  produce 
no  other  example  of  such  complete  and  astounding  success, 
in  spite  of  the  absence  of  those  material,  social,  literary,  and 
artistic  powers  and  influences  which  are  indispensable  to 
success  for  a  mere  man.  .  .  . 

As  the  pyramid  rises  high  above  the  plains  of  Egypt,  so 
Christ  towers  above  all  human  teachers  and  founders  of  sects 
and  religions.  He  found  disciples  and  worshipers  among 
the  Jews,  although  he  identified  himself  with  none  of  their 
sects  and  traditions ;  among  the  Greeks,  although  he  pro- 
claimed no  new  system  of  philosophy  ;  among  the  Romans, 
although  he  fought  no  battle,  and  founded  no  worldly  empire  ; 
among  the  Hindoos,  who  despise  all  men  of  low  caste  ;  among 
the  black  savages  of  Africa,  the  red  men  of  America,  as  well 
as  the  most  highly  civilized  nations  of  modern  times  in  all 
quarters  of  the  globe.  All  his  words  and  all  his  actions,  while 
they  were  fully  adapted  to  the  occasions  which  called  them 
forth,  retain  their  force  and  applicability  undiminished  to  all 
ages  and  nations.  He  is  the  same  unsurpassed  and  unsur- 
passable model  of  every  virtue  to  the  Christians  of  every 
generation,  every  clime,  every  sect,  every  nation,  and  every 
race.   .  .   , 

Christ  was  free  from  all  one-sidedness,  which  constitutes 
the  weakness,  as  well  as  the  strength,  of  the  most  eminent 
men.  He  was  not  a  man  of  one  idea,  nor  of  one  virtue, 
towering  above  all  the  rest.  The  moral  forces  were  so  well 
tempered  and  moderated  by  each  other,  that  none  were  unduly 
prominent,  none  carried  to  excess,  none  alloyed  by  the  kindred 
failing.  '  Each  was  checked  and  completed  by  the  opposite 
grace.  His  character  never  lost  its  even  balance  and  happy 
equilibrium,  never  needed  modification  or  re-adjustment.  It 
was  thoroughly  sound  and  uniformly  consistent  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end. 


348  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

We  cannot  properly  attribute  to  him  any  one  temperament. 
He  was  neither  sanguine  Hke  Peter,  nor  choleric  like  Paul, 
nor  melancholy  like  John,  nor  phlegmatic  as  James  is  some- 
times (though  incorrectly)  represented  to  have  been  ;  but  he 
combined  the  vivacity  without  the  levity  of  the  sanguine,  the 
vigor  without  the  violence  of  the  choleric,  the  seriousness 
without  the  austerity  of  the  melancholic,  the  calmness  without 
the  apathy  of  the  phlegmatic  temperament.  He  was  equally 
removed  from  the  excesses  of  the  legalist,  the  pietist,  the 
ascetic,  and  the  enthusiast.  With  the  strictest  obedience  to 
the  law,  he  moved  in  the  element  of  freedom  ;  with  all  the 
fervor  of  the  enthusiast,  he  was  always  calm,  sober,  and  self- 
possessed.  Notwithstanding  his  complete  and  uniform  eleva- 
tion above  the  affairs  of  this  world,  he  mingled  freely  with 
society,  male  and  female,  dined  with  publicans  and  sinners, 
played  with  little  children  and  blessed  them,  sat  at  the  wed- 
ding-feast, shed  tears  at  the  sepulchre,  delighted  in  God's 
nature,  admired  the  beauties  of  the  lilies,  and  used  the  occu- 
pations of  the  husbandman  for  the  illustration  of  the  sublimest 
truths  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  His  virtue  was  healthy, 
manly,  vigorous,  yet  genial,  social,  and  truly  human  ;  never 
austere  and  repulsive  ;  always  in  full  sympathy  with  innocent 
joy  and  pleasure.  He,  the  purest  and  holiest  of  men,  pro- 
vided wine  for  the  wedding-feast ;  introduced  the  fatted  calf 
and  music  and  dancing  into  the  picture  of  the  welcome  of 
the  prodigal  son  to  his  father's  house ;  and  even  provoked  the 
sneer  of  his  adversaries,  that  he  "  came  eating  and  drinking," 
and  was  a  "  glutton  and  a  wine-bibber." 

His  zeal  never  degenerated  into  passion,  nor  his  constancy 
into  obstinacy,  nor  his  benevolence  into  weakness,  iror  his 
tenderness  into  sentimentality.  His  unworldliness  was  free 
from  indifference  and  unsociability,  his  dignity  from  jiltide  and 
presumption,  his  affability  from  undiie  familiarity,  his  self- 
denial  from  moroseness,  his  temperance  from  austerity.  He 
combined  childlike  innocence  with  manly  strength,  all-absorb- 
ing devotion  to  God  witii   untiring  interest  in   the  welfare  of 


1 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  349 

man,  tender  love  to  the  sinner  with  uncompromising  severity 
against  sin,  commanding  dignity  with  winning  humihty,  fear- 
less courage  with  wise  caution,  unyielding  firmness  with  sweet 
gentleness.  .   .   . 

All  human  greatness  loses  on  closer  inspection  ;  but 
Christ's  character  grows  more  pure,  sacred,  and  lovely,  the 
better  w^e  know  him.  The  whole  range  of  history  and  tiction 
furnishes  no  parallel  to  it.  There  never  was  any  thing  even 
approaching  to  it,  before  or  since,  except  in  faint  imitation 
of  his  example. 

No  biographer,  moralist,  or  artist  can  be  satisfied  with  any 
attempt  of  his  to  set  forth  the  beauty  of  holiness  which  shines 
from  the  face  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It  is  felt  to  be  infinitely 
greater  than  any  conception  or  representation  of  it  by  the 
mind,  the  tongue,  or  the  pencil  of  man  or  angel.  We  might 
as  well  attempt  to  empty  the  waters  of  the  boundless  sea  into 
a  narrow  w^ell  as  to  portray  the  splendor  of  the  risen  sun 
and  the  starry  heavens  with  ink.  No  picture  of  the  Saviour, 
though  drawn  by  the  master-hand  of  a  Raphael  or  Dijrer  or 
Rubens  ;  no  epic,  though  conceived  by  the  genius  of  a  Dante 
or  Milton  or  Klopstock,  —  can  improve  on  the  artless  narrative 
of  the  Gospels,  whose  only  but  all-powerful  charm  is  truth. 
In  this  case,  certainly,  truth  is  stranger  than  fiction,  and  speaks 
best  for  itself  without  comment,  explanation,  or  eulogy.  Here, 
and  here  alone,  the  highest  perfection  of  art  falls  short  of  the 
historical  fact,  and  fancy  finds  no  room  for  idealizing  the  real ; 
for  here  we  have  the  absolute  ideal  itself  in  living  reality. 

It  seems  to  me  that  this  consideration  alone  should  satisfy 
any  reflecting  mind  that  Christ's  character,  though  truly  natu- 
ral and  human,  rises  far  above  the  ordinary  proportions  of 
humanity,  and  cannot  be  classified  with  the  purest  and  greatest 
of  our  race.   .   .  . 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  most  certain,  the  most  sacred,  and  the 
most  glorious  of  all  facts,  arrayed  in  a  majesty  and  a  beauty 
which  throws  "  the  starry  heavens  above  us  and  the  moral  law 
within   us "  into   obscurity,  and   fills   us   truly  with    an    ever- 


350  TESTIMONY   OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

glowing"  reverence  and  awe.  He  shines  forth  with  the  self- 
evidencing  light  of  the  noonday  sun. 

He  is  too  great,  too  pure,  too  perfect,  to  have  been 
invented  by  any  sinful  and  erring  man.  His  character  and 
claims  are  confirmed  by  the  sublimest  doctrine,  the  purest 
ethics,  the  mightiest  miracles,  the  grandest  spiritual  kingdom, 
and  are  daily  and  hourly  exhibited  in  the  graces  and  virtues 
of  all  who  yield  to  the  regenerating  and  sanctifying  power  of 
his  spirit  and  example.  The  historical  Christ  meets  and  satis- 
fies all  our  intellectual  and  moral  wants.  The  soul,  if  left 
to  its  noblest  impulses  and  aspirations,  instinctively  turns  to 
him,  as  the  needle  to  the  magnet,  as  the  flower  to  the  sun,  as 
the  panting  hart  to  the  fresh  fountain.  We  are  made  for  him, 
and  our  "  heart  is  without  rest  until  it  rests  in  him." 

He  commands  our  assent,  he  wins  our  admiration,  he  over- 
whelms us  with  adoring  wonder.  We  cannot  look  upon  him 
without  spiritual  benefit.  We  cannot  think  of  him  without 
being  elevated  above  all  that  is  low  and  mean,  and  encouraged 
to  all  that  is  good  and  noble.  The  very  hem  of  his  garment 
is  healing  to  the  touch.  One  hour  spent  in  his  communion 
outweighs  all  the  pleasures  of  sin.  He  is  the  most  precious 
and  indispensable  gift  of  a  merciful  God  to  a  fallen  world. 
In  him  are  the  treasures  of  true  wisdom,  in  him  the  fountain 
of  pardon  and  peace,  in  him  the  only  substantial  hope  and 
comfort  in  this  world  and  that  which  is  to  come.  Mankind 
could  better  afford  to  lose  the  whole  literature  of  Greece  and 
Rome,  of  Germany  and  France,  of  England  and  America, 
than  the  story  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Without  him,  history  is  a 
dreary  waste,  an  inextricable  enigma,  a  chaos  of  facts  without 
a  m(;aning.  connection,  and  aim.  With  him,  it  is  a  beautiful, 
harmonious  revelation  of  God,  —  the  slow  but  sure  unfolding 
of  a  plan  of  infinite  wisdom  and  love,  —  all  ancient  history 
converging  to  his  coming,  all  modern  history  receiving  from 
him  its  higher  life  and  impulse.  He  is  the  glory  of  the  past, 
the  life  of  tlic  present,  the  hope  of  the  future.  We  cannot 
even    understand   ourselves   without  him.     Accordine    to    an 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  35  I 

old  Jewish  proverb,  "The  secret  of  man  is  the  secret  of  the 
Messiah."  He  is  the  great  central  Light  of  history,  as  a 
whole,  and,  at  the  same  time,  the  light  of  ever}^  soul.  He 
alone  can  solve  the  mystery  of  our  being,  and  fulfil  all  our 
intellectual  desires  after  truth,  all  our  moral  aspirations  after 
goodness  and  holiness,  and  the  longing  of  our  feelings  after 
peace  and  happiness. 


CYRUS    D.  FOSS. 

[Christ:  His  Nature  and  Work.     New  York  :  1878.     Pp.  49-51.] 

These  five  Gospels.  Matthew's,  Mark's,  Luke's,  John's, 
and  God's  (these  yfe-^  Gospels,  —  the  four,  and  the  sublime 
commentary  on  them  furnished  by  almost  nineteen  centuries 
of  Christian  history),  teach,  to  begin  with,  that  Jesus  was  the 
most  wonderful  man  that  has  ever  lived  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth,  and  that  with  none  of  those  appliances  for  becom- 
ing famous  which  the  great  men  of  the  world  have  had.  He 
was  not  an  author ;  he  was  not  a  scientist ;  he  was  not  a 
philosopher,  nor  a  statesman,  nor  a  warrior.  He  wrote  no 
books,  no  proclamation,  no  letters,  no  line  or  word  that  has 
survived  him.  When  he  wrote,  he  wrote  in  the  dust.  He 
revealed  no  scientific  truths  to  men,  no  new  philosophical 
system,  no  arts  of  diplomacy  ;  he  assumed  no  control  of  the 
governments  of  the  world.  He  had  no  army,  no  sword.  He 
rebuked  the  only  disciple  who  ever  drew  a  sword  for  him, 
and  healed  the  mischief  that  the  sword  had  wrought.  And 
yet  somehow  this  man  has  made  himself  more  famous  than 
any  other  man.     Infidels  admit  this.  .   .  . 

Not  only  is  Jesus  morally  unique  among  the  sons  of  men, 
but  intellectually  also.  In  all  his  teachings  that  have  been 
reported  to  us,  men  have  never  found  one  error.  And  still 
further,  they  have  never  added  one  iota  to  his  teachings  on 
moral  and  religious  subjects.  Behold  him  going  forth  into 
this  world,  —  a   map  of  which  he  had  never  seen,  —  moving 


352  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

about  among  men  his  superiors  in  all  that  calculation  can  do  ; 
pitched  upon  by  wary  lawyers,  who  had  put  their  heads 
together  to  puzzle  him.  Behold  him  at  all  hours  subject  to 
the  keenest  inquisitions,  and  never  saying,  no  matter  how 
profound  the  question  (as  our  judges  of  the  Courts  of 
Appeals  are  obliged  to  do),  "  Decision  reserved." 

On  the  instant  this  wonderful  man  answered  all  questions, 
and  not  only  answered  them  correctly,  but  in  his  brief  answer 
brought  out  without  a  single  mistake  those  principles  of 
casuistry  that  have  'for  eighteen  hundred  years  been  the 
solvent  of  all  questions  of  conscience.  What  an  intellect 
had  he !  In  eighteen  centuries,  during  which  the  human 
mind  has  been  immensely  and  amazingly  busy,  men  have 
not  added  to  his  teachings  one  jot.  If  any  man  challenges 
this  statement,  let  him  point  out  to  us  from  all  other  sources 
the  first  ray  of  moral  or  religious  truth  that  has  been  added 
to  the  teachings  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


THOMAS   WELBANK    FOWLE. 

[The  Character  of  Christ.     New  York:  1872.     Pp.  16,17.] 

What  is  with  us  the  obtrusion  of  self  into  our  works,  not 
at  all  in  a  sinful,  but  simply  in  a  necessary  form,  corresponds 
in  Jesus  to  the  consciousness  of  the  Father  doing  all  the 
works.  His  meat  and  drink  was  to  finish  that  work ;  his 
glory,  in  having  finished  it.  And  it  is  remarkable  that  this 
consciousness  of  self,  this  reflection  upon  our  motives  and 
successes,  this  almost  agonizing  survey  of  our  work  and  life, 
is  particularly  strong  In  religious  reformers.  The  men  who 
have  most  moved  the  world  In  religion  have  been  those  to 
whom  the  movements  of  their  own  souls  have  been  most 
painfiilly  clear;  for  Instance,  St.  Paul,  Luther,  and  Milton. 
Consider  the  former,  painfully  conscious  of  his  bodily  appear- 
ance, his  reputation,  his  conversion,  his  very  handwriting, 
his  labors ;  consider  the  latter  brooding  over  his  blindness,  his 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  353 

treatment,  his  failure,  the  evil  days  on  which  he  had  fallen. 
And  these  men  powerfully  affected  the  world  in  which  they 
lived  ;  whereas  Homer  and  Shakspeare,  of  all  men  the  most 
destitute  of  self-consciousness,  fade  away  from  history,  and 
are  spirits,  voices,  rather  than  distinct  human  beings.  But 
in  Christ  we  have  an  element  of  self-forgetfulness,  so  to 
speak,  combined  with  a  power  to  move  humanity,  which 
renders  him  unique  in  history.  But,  to  be  unique  in  history, 
what  is  it  but  to  be  divine  ? 


CHARLES   ADOLPHUS    ROW. 

[Christian   Evidences  viewed  in    Relation  to   Modern    Thought.      Bampton 
Lectures  for  1877.     London:  1S77.     Pp.  97-99,  146,147,  179,  iSo] 

If  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  his  action  in  history, 
are  separated  by  a  profound  interval  from  that  of  every  other 
man,  if  he  stands  at  an  elevation  immeasurably  higher  than 
the  greatest,  the  wisest,  and  the  best  of  men,  if  his  influence 
for  good  not  only  transcends  that  of  any  single  great  man, 
but  of  all  great  men  united,  it  is  utterly  unphilosophical  to 
affirm  that  he  was  the  simple  product  of  those  forces  that 
energize  in  humanity :  on  the  contrary,  the  difference  in  the 
effect  proves  a  difference  in  the  cause  which  produced  it. 
If  he  were  their  simple  product,  how,  I  ask,  has  it  come  to 
pass,  that  they  have  produced  only  this  one  great  perfect  man, 
this  single  ideal  of  human  nature,  and  then  ceased  from  their 
activity  for  evermore  ?  Such  a  question  urgently  demands 
solution  if  our  beliefs  are  to  be  grounded  on  rational  convic- 
tion. The  difference  in  the  results  proves  that  the  causes 
which  produced  them  have  been  different ;  in  other  words, 
that  the  greatness  of  Jesus  Christ  and  his  action  in  history 
cannot  have  been  due  to  those  forces  which  have  produced 
other  great  men,  but  are  manifestations  of  the  energy  of  a 
superhuman  power. 

Whence,  I  ask,  has  come  this  power  of  impressing  the 


354  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

hearts  of  men  with  an  impassioned  love,  which  has  been 
exhibited  by  Jesus  Christ  for  a  period  of  more  than  eighteen 
hundred  years  after  the  termination  of  his  earthly  life  ?  Why 
have  not  other  great  men  exerted  a  similarly  attractive  power, 
If  the)'  have  not  done  so  to  the  full  extent,  why  have  they  not 
at  least  made  some  approach  towards  it  ?  Great  men  have 
existed  in  abundance ;  and  not  a  few  of  them  have  been  great 
benefactors  of  mankind,  and  to  the  utmost  of  their  powers 
have  labored  to  do  them  o-ood.  But  where  is  the  ofreat  man, 
Jesus  Christ  alone  excepted,  who  has  for  eighteen  centuries 
after  the  termination  of  his  earthly  life  been  capable  of  excit- 
ing in  the  hearts  of  men  an  impassioned  love  ?  Who  among 
them  has  called  forth  a  self-sacrificing  devotion  of  heart  and 
life  ?  The  memory  of  other  great  men  we  respect  and  rever- 
ence, but  not  one  of  them  inspires  us  with  impassioned  love. 
Take  a  careful  survey  of  the  entire  history  of  the  past.  Does 
Socrates,  or  Plato,  or  Aristotle  ?  Does  Zoroaster,  or  Confu- 
cius, or  Sakya  Mouni  ?  Does  Mohammed,  does  even  the 
venerable  Howard  ?  Who  among  the  sons  of  men  has  kin- 
dled towards  himself  a  self-sacrificine  love  analoofous  to  that 
which  has  been  aroused  towards  Jesus  Christ  ?  Even  if  we 
assume  the  character  of  Jesus  to  be  an  ideal  creation,  the 
argument  is  no  less  cogent.  Where  is  the  ideal  creation 
that  has  exerted  this  singular  power?  The  interval  which 
separates  the  earliest  of  poets  from  the  greatest  of  living 
ones  is  very  wide,  and  contains  many  illustrious  names ;  yet 
•poetic  genius  has  been  unable  to  create  a  character  which 
could  similarly  inspire  the  hearts  of  men,  and  thereby  act 
■mightily  on  man's  moral  and  spiritual  being  for  eighteen 
•centuries,  and  afford  the  promise  of  acting  mightily  forever. 
Jesus  Christ  alone  has  exerted  such  a  power.  What,  then, 
is  the  inference  ?  I  answer,  that  we  must  be  in  the  presence 
of  the  superhuman.   .   .   . 

Th'-  presence  of  a  body  of  political  and  social  legislation 
in  the  Koran  constitutes  the  rock  on  which  Mohaiiinuxlanism 
IS  l)eing  hopelessly  shipwrecked  before  our  eyes,  and  utterly 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  355 

unfitted  for  being-  the  religion  of  humanity.  Is  it  possible, 
I  ask,  that  any  one  who  was  born  and  educated  under  the 
influences  by  which  Jesus  was  surrounded  could  have  rigidly 
excluded  all  political  and  social  questions  from  his  teaching  ? 
With  such  an  experience,  would  any  amount  of  foresight 
have  enabled  him  to  guess  that  if  he  had  prescribed  a  body 
of  political  legislation,  the  consequences  would  have  been 
fatal  to  his  religion,  and  have  caused  the  ruin  of  that  kingdom 
which  it  was  his  purpose  to  establish  ? 

This  most  remarkable  abstinence  from  entering  on  ques- 
tions of  this  description,  I  claim  to  be  a  striking  proof  that 
the  Founder  of  Christianity  possessed  an  insight  which  must 
have  raised  him  above  all  the  trammels  imposed  on  him  by 
his  birth  and  surroundings,  in  that,  while  he  has  kept  clear 
of  all  political  and  social  questions,  he  has  been  able  to  embrace 
all  the  duties  which  they  demand  in  the  all-comprehending 
principle  of  self-sacrifice  rendered  to  himself.  If  he  had  pur- 
sued the  course  which  many  eminent  moderns  would  have 
suggested  to  him,  and  commenced  his  work  of  regenerating 
mankind,  not  by  appealing  to  the  conscience  of  the  individual, 
but  by  addressing  himself  to  the  external,  the  social,  and  the 
political,  Christianity  would  never  have  survived  the  century 
that  gave  it  birth. 

The  almost  entire  absence  of  blame  or  praise  assigned  to 
the  different  characters  in  the  scenes  which  they  depict  is  a 
most  striking  feature  in  the  Evangelists.  The  absence  of  the 
expression  of  any  personal  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  writers 
seems  almost  like  coldness.  They  have  not  one  word  in 
commendation  of  the  absolute  self-sacrifice  manifested  in  their 
Master's  life,  nor  of  his  unwearied  labors  in  doing  good,  nor 
of  his  benevolence,  his  holiness,  or  his  humility,  or  any  one  of 
the  striking  traits  of  his  character.  They  must  have  viewed 
his  death  as  the  most  atrocious  of  murders  :  yet  not  one  word 
have  they  uttered  for  the  purpose  of  heightening  the  eftect 
of  his  cruel  sufferings,  or  even  of  drawing  our  attention  to 
his  patient  endurance.     The  whole  account  of  the  crucifixion 


356  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

is  a  remarkably  matter-of-fact  one  ;  in  some  respects  it  is 
even  meagre,  and  not  one  word  is  added  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  pathos  to  the  scene. 

Equally  remarkable  is  the  entire  absence  of  any  expres- 
sion of  surprise  or  admiration  at  any  miracle  which  our  Lord 
performed,  and  the  want  of  dramatic  coloring  in  their  relation 
of  them.  The  authors  of  the  Gospels  are  exclusively  occupied 
with  the  facts  which  they  narrate,  and  trusted  to  them  alone 
to  produce  the  effect  which  they  desired.  In  one  word,  all 
four  Evangelists  write  like  men  who  were  utterly  unconscious 
that  they  were  delineating  the  greatest  character  in  history. 

It  is  very  remarkable,  that  even  in  respect  to  the  imme- 
diate agents  of  our  Lord's  death,  there  is  an  entire  absence 
of  denunciation  ;  the  hardest  term  which  they  employ  being 
that  by  which  they  designate  Judas  as  a  traitor,  softened  in 
three  out  of  the  four  into  the  expression,  "  He  who  delivered 
him  up."  This  absence  of  remark  is  not  a  peculiarity  of  any 
one  of  the  Evangelists,  but  alike  distinguishes  the  four. 
When  we  consider  that  the  attachment  to  their  Master  was 
profound,  it  constitutes  a  most  surprising  trait,  and  is  utterly 
inconsistent  with  the  idea  that  any  portion  of  the  delineation 
has  been  worked  up  for  the  purpose  of  producing  an  effect. 
Yet  it  has  produced  one  which  has  utterly  distanced  the 
mightiest  creations  of  o-enius. 


FRANCES   POWER    COBBE. 

[Broken  Lights.     Boston:  1S64.     Pp.  159,  160,  166-170,  172,  173.] 

Of  that  noblest  countenance  which  once  smiled  upon  the 
plains  of  Palestine,  we  possess  not,  nor  will  mankind  ever 
recover,  any  perfect  and  infallible  picture,  any  sun-drawn  pho- 
tograph which  might  tell  us  with  unerring  certainty  he  was, 
or  was  not,  as  our  hearts  may  conceive  of  him.  Rather  do 
we  only  look  sorrowfully  over  the  waves  of  time  to  belioltl 
reflected  therein  some  such   faint  and  wavering  image  as  his 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  357 

face  may  have  cast  on  the  Lake  of  GaHlee,  as  he  leaned  at 
eventide,  from  the  ship  of  his  disciples,  over  the  waters 
stirred  and  rippling  before  the  breeze.  Some  features  too 
often  recur  to  leave  us  altogether  mistaken  concerning  them, 
and  the  impression  of  the  whole  countenance  is  one  "  full  of 
grace  and  truth."  But  of  the  details  we  can  decide  nothing, 
nor  pretend  to  speak  of  them  as  clear  or  assured. 

One  thing,  however,  we  may  hold  with  approximate  cer- 
tainty; and  that  is,  that  all  the  highest  doctrines,  the  purest 
moral  precepts,  the  most  profound  spiritual  revelations 
recorded  in  the  Gospels,  w^ere  actually  those  of  Christ  himself. 
The  originator  of  the  Christian  movement  must  have  been  the 
greatest  soul  of  his  time,  as  of  all  time.  If  he  did  not  speak 
those  words  of  wisdom,  who  could  have  recorded  them  for 
him  ?     "It  would  have  taken  a  Jesus  to  forge  a  Jesus." 

To  form  a  just  estimate  of  any  character  in  history,  it  is 
obviously  needful  that  we  view  him  from  the  standpoint  of  his 
special  eminence.  To  judge  an  artist  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  politician,  or  the  man  of  science  from  that  of  the  philan- 
thropist, is  manifest  injustice.  The  artist's  work  must  be 
judged  as  art,  the  politician's  as  policy,  and  so  on  through 
every  department  of  human  action,  if  we  would  recognize  the 
real  merit  thereof.  Applying  this  rule  to  the  estimate  of 
the  character  of  Christ,  it  is  clear  that  we  must  put  aside  from 
our  view  a  variety  of  qualities  on  which  the  claim  to  greatness 
is  commonly  made  in  the  world.   .   .   . 

The  greatness  of  the  sovereign,  the  statesman,  the  econo- 
mist, the  commander,  the  metaphysician,  the  man  of  learning, 
the  scientific  discoverer,  the  poet,  the  historian,  the  artist,  —  not 
one  of  these  forms  of  outward,  and,  as  we  might  say,  tangible 
greatness,  belonged  in  any  degree  to  Christ.  It  is  altogether 
in  the  inward  world  that  we  must  find  the  traces  of  his  work, 
and  take  the  measure  of  his  altitude.  But  here  we  may 
greatly  err  also  ;  for  there  are  many  aspects  in  which  the 
inward  world  may  be  regarded.  A  moral  reformer  is  one 
thing,  a  spiritual  regenerator  another,  a  very  different  one. 


35S  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Because  the  exalted  spirituality  of  Christ  included  (as,  alas ! 
lesser  spiritual  eminence  has  not  always  done)  a  transcend- 
ently  pure  morality,  it  has  happened  that  those  who  have 
regarded  him  from  the  rationalist  side,  and  sought  to  give  him 
the  peculiar  human  dignity  he  deserved,  have  commonly  fixed 
their  attention  on  his  moral  teachings,  and  have  proclaimed 
him  the  supreme  moral  reformer  of  the  world.  He  was  so, 
indeed  ;  but  he  was  surely  something  more.   .  .   . 

The  fact  of  regeneration  must  be  admitted  to  be  the  most 
important  of  all  the  phenomena  of  the  moral  world.  Nothing 
else  can  compare  with  it  for  influence  on  the  whole  life  and 
character  of  man.  In  judging,  then,  of  the  greatness  of  such 
a  religious  teacher  as  Christ,  this  one  most  important  fact 
must  not  be  left  out  of  sight.  We  must  not  pass  over  it,  and 
inquire  only  of  his  ethics  or  his  theology.  We  must  ask.  Had 
he  influence  in  this  matter  also  ?  Did  he  do  aught  toward 
aiding  mankind  to  take  that  one  greatest  step,  —  from  the 
unregenerate  to  the  regenerate  life  ? 

Now,  it  would  appear,  that,  if  we  actually  estimate  Christ 
by  the  influence  which  he  has  had  in  the  life  of  humanity,  we 
shall  find  that  it  is  precisely  here  that  we  come  on  the  largest 
traces  of  his  work.  Taking  the  whole  ancient  world  in  com- 
parison with  the  modern,  the  heathen  with  the  Christian, 
the  general  character  of  the  two  is  absolutely  analogous  to 
that  which  in  individuals  we  call  unreofenerate  and  regenerate. 
Of  course  there  were  thousands  of  regenerated  souls,  Hebrew, 
Greek,  Indian,  of  all  nations  and  languages,  before  Christ, 
Of  course  there  are  millions  unregenerate  now.  But  never- 
theless, from  this  time  onward,  we  trace  through  history  a 
new  spirit  in  the  world,  —  a  leaven  working  through  the 
whole  mass  of  souls. 

This  great  phenomenon  of  history  surely  points  to  some 
corresponding  great  event,  whereby  the  revolution  was  accom- 
plished. Tlicre  must  have  been  a  moment  whcMi  the  old 
order  stopped,  and  the  new  began.  Some  action  must  have 
taken  place  upon  the  souls  of  men,  which  thenceforth  started 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  359 

them  in  a  different  career,  and  opened  the  age  of  progressive 
life.  When  did  this  moment  arrive  ?  What  was  the  primal 
act  of  the  endless  progress  ?     By  whom  was  that  age  opened  ? 

Here  we  have  really  ground  to  go  upon.  There  is  no 
need  to  establish  the  authenticity  or  veracity  of  special  books, 
or  harmonize  discordant  narratives,  to  obtain  an  answer  to  our 
question.  The  whole  voice  of  human  history,  unconsciously 
and  without  premeditation,  bears  its  unmistakable  testimony. 
The  turning-point  between  the  old  world  and  the  new  was  the 
beginning  of  the  Christian  movement.  The  action  upon 
human  nature,  which  started  it  on  its  new  course,  w^as  the 
teaching  and  example  of  Christ.  Christ  was  he  who  opened 
the  age  of  endless  progress. 

The  view,  therefore,  which  seems  to  be  the  sole  fitting  one 
for  our  estimate  of  Christ,  is  that  which  regards  him  as  the 
REGENERATOR  of  humanity.  His  coining  was,  to  the  life  of 
humanity,  what  regeneration  is  to  the  life  of  the  individual. 
This  is  not  a  conclusion  doubtfully  deduced  from  questionable 
biographies,  but  a  broad,  plain  inference  from  the  universal 
history  of  our  race.  We  may  dispute  all  details,  but  the  grand 
result  is  beyond  criticism.  The  world  has  changed,  and  that 
change  is  historically  traceable  to  Christ.  The  honor,  then, 
which  Christ  demands  of  us,  must  be  in  proportion  to  the 
value  of  such  regeneration. 

He  is  not  merely  a  moral  reformer,  inculcating  pure  ethics  ; 
not  merely  a  religious  reformer,  clearing  away  old  theological 
errors,  and  teaching  higher  ideas  of  God.  These  things  he 
was  ;  but  he  might,  for  all  we  can  tell,  have  been  both  as  fully, 
and  yet  have  failed  to  be  what  he  has  actually  been  to  our 
race.  He  mio-ht  have  tauQfht  the  world  better  ethics  and 
better  theology,  and  yet  have  failed  to  infuse  into  it  that  new 
life  which  has  ever  since  coursed  through  its  arteries,  and 
penetrated  its  minutest  veins.  What  Christ  has  really  done  is 
beyond  the  kingdom  of  the  intellect  and  its  theologies ;  nay, 
even  beyond  the  kingdom  of  the  conscience  and  its  recogni- 
tion of  duty.     His  work  has  been  in  that  of  the  heart.     He 


360  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

has  transformed  the  law  into  the  Gospel.  He  has  changed 
the  bonds  of  the  alien  into  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  He 
has  glorified  virtue  into  holiness,  religion  into  piety,  and  duty 
into  love. 

The  manner  in  which  Christ  achieved  the  regeneration  of 
the  world,  who  shall  now  decide  ?  Was  it  only  by  his  great, 
holy  words,  telling  men  that  God  was  the  father  of  all,  —  of 
the  just  as  of  the  unjust,  —  the  forgiving  parent  of  the 
prodigal ;  the  shepherd  who  would  follow  the  wanderer  even 
unto  the  utmost  verge  of  the  wilderness  of  his  wickedness, 
and  bring  him  home  at  last  with  rejoicing?  Was  it  thus,  and 
by  telling  man  that  to  love  God  and  his  neighbor  fulfilled  all 
the  law  and  the  prophets,  —  w^as  it  thus  that  Christ  touched  the 
heart  of  the  world  ?  Or,  was  it  by  his  life  so  pure  and  holy, 
that  men  saw,  as  in  a  visible  parable,  what  it  meant  to  be 
God's  beloved  son,  —  to  be  one  with  the  Father,  even  as  all 
men  shall  be  one  with  him  ?  Was  it  thus  that  Christ  awoke 
in  human  nature  the  unutterable  yearning  after  such  sonship 
and  such  unity  with  God  ?  Or,  was  it  that  words  and  life  all 
found  their  crown  and  end  in  his  martyr  death,  —  that  death 
which  transformed  forever  the  world's  ideal  of  glory,  and 
made  for  all  time  the  cross  of  agony  and  sacrifice  the  type  of 
somewhat  so  far  above  all  earthly  power  and  joy,  that  men 
ceased  to  deem  it  human,  and  adored  it  as  divine  ? 

We  know  not ;  it  concerns  us  not  to  know.  One  thing 
we  must  believe,  —  that  He  to  whom  was  committed  such  a 
work,  he  to  whom  such  a  part  was  assigned  in  the  drama  of 
history  by  its  great  Author,  must  have  been  spiritually 
of  transcendent  excellence.  Of  ordinary  genius  or  powers  of 
any  kind,  he  may  have  had  less  or  more  ;  but  of  those  hidden 
faculties  by  which  the  highest  religious  truths  are  reached,  and 
of  that  fervent  loyalty  by  which  the  soul  is  fitted  to  receive 
.divine  instruction,  o{  these  Christ  must  have  had  a  superabun- 
dant share.  Stricdy  to  define  his  spiritual  rank,  he  must 
surely  have  been  the  man  iv/io  best  fulfilled  all  the  conditions 
under  whicJi  God  <i rants  his  inspiration. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  361 

God  is  best  honored  by  the  glad  admission  that  the  man 
who  has  most  deeply  moved  humanity  was  most  fully  inspired 
by  his  Spirit, 

The  spiritual  greatness  of  Christ  is  the  necessary  postulate 
for  the  whole  rationalist  theory  of  religion. 


RICHARD    S.    STORRS. 

[Introduction  TO  Eddy's  Life  OF  Jesus  Christ.    Springfield:  1S6S.    Pp.  5,  7-] 

The  brilliant  names  of  orators,  soldiers,  skilful  inventors, 
sagacious  statesmen,  gradually  fade  in  the  vividness  of  their 
lustre  as  other  generations  follow  that  to  which  their  genius 
was  first  exhibited.  But  the  name  of  Jesus  continues  to 
command,  and  ever  more  widely,  the  love,  the  reverence,  the 
obedience,  of  mankind.  Careers  so  splendid  in  comparison 
of  his,  and  so  rich  in  energy  and  governing  forces  that  to 
rank  his  beside  them  would  have  looked  to  the  cultivated 
men  of  his  time  like  a  balancinor  of  Nazareth  against  the 
Rome  of  Augustus,  have  been  lost  from  sight,  and  even  from 
recollection,  as  the  race  has  moved  from  them  across  the 
expanse  of  peaceful  or  of  stormy  years.  But  his  career 
remains  always  in  sight,  like  the  star  which  shines  in  its 
serene  heights  when  the  light-house  lamp,  which  near  at 
hand  glittered  more  brightly,  has  sunk  beneath  the  lifting 
horizon. 

More  than  sixty  generations  of  men,  vexed  with  thought, 
burdened  with  cares,  and  each  accomplishing,  wearily  or 
victoriously,  its  office  in  the  world,  have  lived  and  wrought 
and  passed  away  since  the  young  child  Jesus  lay  on  his 
mother's  breast  at  Bethlehem.  Yet  they  are  to-day  more 
numerous  than  ever,  and  more  influential,  who  turn  with 
profoundly  attentive  minds,  because  with  profoundly  adoring 
hearts,  to  consider  what  he  was,  and  to  ponder  the  things 
which  he  said  and  did. 

With   every  century    it   becomes   more    difficult   for   the 


o 


62  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


simply  philosophical  student,  though  wholly  uninfluenced  by 
that  peculiar  Christian  affection  which  in  the  Church  is 
sought  to  be  propagated,  to  eliminate  from  history,  and  to 
remit  to  the  department  of  fable  or  of  poetry,  the  early 
records  of  this  supreme  man,  who  was  born  to  no  rank,  and 
trained  in  no  school ;  who  held  himself  aloof  from  none,  and 
did  not  shrink  from  the  touch  of  the  sinful ;  who  sought  no 
fame,  and  seemed  content  to  strew  his  words  on  the  vanishing 
winds:  but  who  perfectly  expressed  in  his  crystalline  character 
whatever  all  peoples  concede  most  precious,  and  who  to-day 
governs  governments  ;  whose  words  are  the  light,  his  temper 
the  model,  and  his  life  the  inspiration,  of  all  that  is  noblest 
in  the  modern  as  in  ancient  character  and  thought ;  and  from 
whose  unconspicuous  advent  the  new  ages  of  liberty,  of 
discovery,  and  of  progress,  date  their  birth.  It  is  a  true 
saying  of  F.  W.  Faber,  that  "The  Incarnation  is  as  much 
the  world  In  which  we  live,  as  is  the  globe  on  which  we 
tread." 


G.    VANCE    SMITH. 


[The  Spirit  and  the  Mind  of  Christ,  and  their  Permanent  Lessons.     London: 

1874.     Pp.  116,  117.] 

"  Before  all  things "  the  Spirit  of  Christ  !  And  what 
this  was  and  is,  it  requires  no  detailed  exposition  to  set  forth. 
All  Christians  are  agreed  as  to  its  most  vital  and  characteristic 
qualities.  It  is  the  spirit  of  truth  and  justice,  and  fidelity  to 
the  sense  of  duty;  of  love  and  good-will  between  man  and 
man;  of  humble  trust  and  reliance  upon  God.  It  is  the 
spirit  of  active  obedience  and  well-doing,  of  purity  in  thought 
and  in  deed,  of  self-renunciation,  and  sympathy  for  the 
afflicted  and  suffering.  It  Is  tender  compassion  for  the  sinner, 
combined  with  an  earnest  Intolerance  of  untruth,  hypocrisy, 
and  formalit)',  in  religion  as  In  every  thing  else.  It  Is  the 
spirit  ol  j)ra)cr  and  u|)\vard  asi)iration  towartls  the  universal 
Father,  of  unfailing  submission  to  the  hoi)-  will,  and  devout 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  363 

trust  in  the  unseen  heaven  ;  while  at  last,  as  the  result  and 
crown  of  all,  it  is  a  perfect  readiness,  even  in  the  moment  of 
supreme  agony  and  death,  to  commit  every  interest  and  care 
of  earthly  life  into  the  hands  of  God, —  not  forgetting,  withal, 
to  return  good  for  evil,  blessing  and  forgiveness  for  injury  and 
scorn,  as  shown  in  that  memorable  prayer:  "Father,  forgive 
them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 


WILLIAM    HENRY  FURNESS. 

[Thoughts  on  the  Life  and  Character  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.     Boston:  1S59. 

Pp.  26,  84,  95,  274.] 

The  idea  of  Jesus  Christ,  rendered  as  it  is  with  such  rare 
freshness  in  the  New  Testament,  must  be  vital,  or  it  would 
never  have  taken  such  a  hold,  stronger  than  adamant,  upon 
the  world,  never  have  so  fixed  itself  with  such  distinctness 
and  prominence  in  the  w^orld's  history ;  especially  when  it  had 
such  obstacles  to  overcome,  mountains  of  ignorance,  rivers 
and  oceans  of  prejudice,  partition-walls  heaven-high  of  cus- 
tom, temperament,  and  language,  dividing  the  nations.  What 
was  it  I  just  now  heard  from  my  window?  A  little  colored 
child  in  the  street,  singing  a  hymn  about  Jesus,  the  Saviour. 
Thus  far  away  from  remote,  obscure  Nazareth,  centuries  back, 
out  of  the  depths  of  the  past,  has  his  name  come.   .  .  . 

Like  God,  like  nature,  is  the  unconsciousness  of  doinof 
any  thing  remarkable  that  characterizes  Jesus,  the  wonder- 
worker. He  produces  those  striking  effects  as  if  nothing  in 
the  world  were  more  a  matter  of  course.  And  although 
people  came  to  him  in  such  numbers  and  so  continually  that 
he  had  not  time  so  much  as  to  eat,  and  althoup"h  the  crowd 
was  at  times  so  o-reat  that  there  was  no  o-ettinof  into  the  house 
where  he  was,  and  some  were  in  danger  of  being  crushed  and 
trampled  under  foot,  still  no  heaving  surges  of  public  wonder 
could  disturb  the  singleness  of  his  purpose,  or  put  him  under 
the  slightest  constraint.     He  still  extended  his  hand  to  heal 


364  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

the  sick,  he  still  spoke  to  relieve  the  suffering,  with  a  manner 
as  simple  as  if  there  were  not  an  eye  to  behold  what  he  was 
doine,  nor  a  heart  to  beat  with  admiration  and  awe.   .   .  . 

I  do  not  challenge  admiration  for  him  because  he  never 
sought,  with  all  his  great  power,  to  inflict  injury  upon  those 
who  persecuted  him.  But  the  wonder  is,  that,  confronted  as 
he  was  by  powerful  and  merciless  foes,  he  was  still  as  serene 
and  as  unmoved  by  them  as  if  he  neither  had  an  enemy  on 
earth,  nor  any  unusual  means  of  resisting  hostility. 

To  use  his  great  gift,  save  for  some  blessed  office  of 
mercy,  appears  never  to  have  been  thought  of  by  him.  How 
clear  his  vision,  how  pure  his  aim,  never  to  have  been  deluded 
into  thinking,  that,  as  he  had  the  good  of  men  so  much  at 
heart,  he  would  be  justiiied  in  using  all  the  means  in  his  power 
to  strengthen  himself,  and  that  those  who  so  wickedly  with- 
stood his  generous  labors  deserved  no  consideration  at  his 
hands !  That  most  plausible  of  errors,  the  error  to  which  the 
strongest  and  the  wisest  have  so  often  yielded,  namely,  that 
the  end  justifies  the  means,  derives  not  the  slightest  authority 
from  him. 

The  man  of  Nazareth  is  remarkable,  not  onl)-  for  the 
breadth  and  depth  of  his  intuitions,  but  also  for  the  delicacy 
of  his  spiritual  sense.  It  is  also  as  strong  as  it  is  delicate. 
The  leading  moral  teachers  of  antiquity  give  one  the  impres- 
sion, together  with  a  certain  rugged  grandeur,  of  a  boyish,  if 
not  a  barbarian  simplicity,  that  did  not  always  distinguish 
things  indifferent  from  vital  truths.  They  are  great,  but  they 
are  antique.  With  all  their  superiority  to  their  times,  they  still 
belong  to  them.  But  in  him  there  is  a  fine  finish  of  the 
moral  nature  which  is  in  advance  of  the  world,  even  now,  after 
eighteen  centuries,  and  which  tells  less  of  a  past  than  of  a 
future.  No  culture  that  has  yet  been  realized,  however 
refined,  can  look  down  on  him.   .   .   . 

"Are  you  a  king,  then  ?"  asks  Pilate.  "Yes,"  he  replies, 
"I  am  a  king."  llis  whole,  air  attests  his  inborn  royalty. 
1  hid   the  blood  of  a  long  line  of  kingly  ancestors  filled  his 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  365 

veins,  he  could  not  have  borne  himself  more  royally.  "  For 
this  end  came  I  into  the  world,  that  I  might  bear  witness  to 
the  truth  ;  and  every  true  man  listens  to  my  voice." 

A  kinp-  indeed,  reio-ninor  over  all  true  men  as  a  sovereio-n 
by  whom  all  truth  makes  free,  wielding  a  sceptre  never  to  be 
broken.  He  stood  there  utterly  forsaken  by  every  earthly 
friend,  but  he  could  not  be  unkinged.  Unkineed  !  It  was 
his  coronation  day.  His  own  blood  was  the  oil  of  consecra- 
tion ;  and  a  vile  cross  was  the  throne  prepared  for  him,  from 
which  he  was  to  rule  the  ages. 

The  consciousness  of  being  then  and  there  a  martyr  to  the 
truth,  to  reign  forever  by  a  divine  right  in  every  true  soul, 
was  the  token  of  his  prerogative,  more  significant  than  any 
crown  of  gold.  Alone,  misunderstood,  surrounded  by  savage 
men  thirsting  for  his  life,  amidst  that  horrid  din  and  with  that 
grim  death  before  him,  not  for  an  instant  does  he  lose  his 
generous  faith  in  good  men  and  true.  He  still  leans  with 
perfect  dignity  upon  all  loyal  hearts.     This  is  kingly. 


GEORGE   A.    CHADWICK. 

[Christ  bearing  Witness  to  Himself.    New  York :  1S79.    Pp.  148,  153,  166,  1S2.] 

Habit   and    a   different   state   of  things  blind   us   to   the 


t>' 


inspiration  which  was  needed  to  strike  out  a  new  path,  refus- 
ing the  jurisprudence  of  Moses,  the  crown  of  David,  the 
vestments  of  Melchizedek,  despising  alike  the  power  of 
statutes,  victories,  and  hecatombs,  and  yet  claiming  for  him- 
self a  glory  of  which  all  these  are  but  reflected  rays. 

The  problem  which  a  Christ  would  have  to  solve,  but 
which  was  not  formally  propounded  to  his  consciousness,  was 
this :  Be  king,  prophet,  priest ;  catch  the  various  and  anti- 
thetical excellences  of  hero  and  teacher,  sage  and  mediator, 
that  all  the  great  shall  be  a  mere  picture  and  shadow,  thou 
the  reality  and  substance  ;  and  in  this  combination  let  none 
predominate  to  the  injury  of  the  rest;    continue  at  the  same 


366  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

time  to  be  completely  and  supremely  unique,  allowing  thyself 
to  imitate  none,  while  so  completely  satisfying  the  drift  of  all 
who  went  before  thee  as  forever  to  abrogate  their  methods. 
Jesus  has  done  this.  To  him  the  mighty  traditions  of  his 
race  were  like  the  piers  along  which  Galahad  advanced  to 
his  crown  far  in  the  spiritual  city :  — 

"  Ancient  kings 
Had  built  a  way,  where,  linked  with  many  a  bridge, 
A  thousand  piers  ran  into  the  Great  Sea, 
And  Galahad  fled  along  them,  bridge  by  bridge ; 
And  every  bridge,  as  quickly  as  he  crossed, 
Sprang  into  fire,  and  vanished." 

The  fulfilment  of  type  and  prophecy  is  much.  It  is  much 
also  to  be  original.    What,  then,  is  the  combination  of  the  two? 

Where  are  the  religions  of  Egypt,  Babylon,  and  Tyre? 
They  are  dead :  they  are  buried  in  sombre  and  profound 
sepulchres.  It  is  seldom  that  a  lonely  student  spells  out 
painfully  the  inscription  on  the  walls  of  their  funereal  vaults. 

Where  is  the  bright  and  romantic  religion  of  Greece  and 
Rome  ?  This  also  is  dead.  The  sweetest  poetr}'  could  only 
embalm  it.  We  gaze  upon  the  fair  featuies,  but  there  is  no 
voice  nor  any  to  answer  us.  "  'Tis  Greece,  but  living  Greece 
no  more." 

And  if  the  religions  of  the  East  live  on,  they  are  bed- 
ridden, blind,  paralyzed,  and  imbecile,  and  only  serve  to 
emphasize  the  difference  between  senility  and  eternal  youth. 

But  where  is  the  religion  of  Judrea  ?  It  lives  exalted  and 
transmuted  above  its  former  self:  its  temples  overtop  our 
proudest  palaces  ;  its  narrow  intolerance  has  been  shaken  off. 
like  the  husk  of  the  chrysalis  from  the  winged  and  lo\cd 
creature  whose  flight  is  to  be  henceforth  as  unfettered  as  the 
winds. 

No  unreal  personage  wields  a  power  like  the  power  of 
Jesus.  The  myths  of  India  cover,  like  a  veil,  the  sleeping 
and   impassive  face  of  Asia  ;  but  when   the  voice  of  Europe 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  367 

penetrates  their  slumber,  her  first  uneasy  movement  begins 
to  shake  them  off.  But  Jesus  leads  the  West  in  her  wakeful 
quest  for  truth,  fires  her  energies,  develops  her  originality, 
inspires  her  exploits,  peoples  the  oceans  with  her  ships,  and 
the  wilds  with  her  colonies.  He  is,  as  Paul  described  him, 
not  only  a  living  soul,  but  a  life-giving  Spirit. 

Here  the  story  of  Jesus  parts  company  with  ever)^  creation 
of  human  genius.  The  noblest  figures  painted  by  the  grand- 
est literary  artists  hang  idly  on  the  walls  of  the  great  picture- 
galleries  of  culture.  Achilles  is  no  longer  desired  in  battle. 
The  wandering  Ulysses  is  sighed  for  in  Ithaca  no  more. 
What's  Hecuba  to  us?  The  murder  of  Duncan,  the  wrones 
of  the  Prince  of  Denmark,  the  broken  heart  of  Lear,  —  what 
politics  do  these  affect  ?  The  party  of  Jesus,  —  that  is  the 
holy  Church  throughout  all  the  world. 

In  the  Palestine  of  the  year  one,  what  is  there  to  explain 
Christ  ?  Did  this  eagle,  with  sun-sustaining  eyes,  emerge 
from  the  slime  of  the  acre  of  Tiberius,  the  basest  aee  in 
history^  ?  Natural  causes,  —  the  struggle  to  exist,  the  race 
which  is  to  the  swift,  and  the  battle  which  is  to  the  strong,  — 
did  these  teach  a  Jew,  whose  interested  intellect  and  his  law 
both  said,  "Thou  shalt  hate  thine  enemies,"  to  pray  upon  his 
cross  for  those  who  nailed  him  there  ? 

And  whence  is  the  trumpet,  and  whose  is  the  breath  in  it, 
which  has  blown  that  dying  supplication  round  the  world  and 
down  the  ages,  to  become  for  centuries  and  races  the  blast 
of  a  spiritual  resurrection  ?  Who  built  the  throne  from  which 
he  stretches  a  rod  of  iron  across  the  world  ?  How  does  that 
pierced  and  mouldered  hand  break  his  foes  in  pieces  like  a 
potter's  vessel?  His  name  lights  up  with  unearthly  lustre  the 
painful  lives  and  cruel  deaths  of  a  great  multitude  which  no 
man  can  number.  Where  has  a  hum.an  being  found  the  colors 
and  the  brush  to  paint  across  the  wildest  storm-clouds  of 
existence  this  never-fading  rainbow  ?  Could  the  rays  of  an 
earthly  taper,  or  any  thing  but  the  pure  light  of  heaven,  make 
our  very  tears  thus  radiant  ? 


368  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 


DAVID   FRIEDRICH    STRAUSS. 

[A  New  Life  of  Jesus.     London:  1865.     Vol.  ii.  p.  436  f/ j-^^.] 

Every  man  of  moral  pre-eminence,  every  great  thinker 
who  has  made  the  active  nature  of  man  the  object  of  his 
investigations,  has  contributed  in  narrower  or  wider  circles 
towards  correcting  that  ideal,  perfecting  or  improving  it.  And 
among  these  improvers  of  the  ideals  of  humanity,  Jesus  stands 
at  all  events  in  the  first  class.  He  introduced  features  into  it 
which  were  wanting  to  it  before,  or  had  continued  undevel- 
oped ;  reduced  the  dimensions  of  others  which  prevented  its 
universal  application  ;  imparted  into  it,  by  the  religious  aspect 
w^hich  he  gave  it,  a  more  lofty  consecration,  and  bestowed 
upon  it,  by  embodying  it  in  his  own  person,  the  most  vital 
warmth ;  while  the  religious  society  which  took  its  rise  from 
him  provided  for  this  ideal  the  widest  acceptance  among 
mankind.  .   .  . 

In  the  pattern  exhibited  by  Jesus  in  his  doctrine  and  in 
his  life,  every  point  is  fully  developed  that  has  reference  to 
love  towards  God  and  our  neighbor,  to  purity  in  the  heart  and 
life  of  the  individual. 


CONSTANTINE    TISCHENDORF. 

[Bremen  Lectures.     Boston:  1S71.     Pp.  200,  217.] 

The  life  of  Jesus  has  become,  in  Christian  science,  the 
great  question  of  the  day.  And  this  question  engages 
the  attention,  not  only  of  professors,  ecclesiastics,  and  other 
men  whose  position  brings  them  nearer  to  theological  sci- 
ence ;  by  no  means :  the  interest  of  it  is  shared  also  by  the 
Church,  by  the  whole  Christian  world.  Whence  this  interest, 
this- significance  of  the  question  ?  That  can  be  told  without 
difficulty.  For,  on  the  answer  to  the  question,  What  must  be 
said  of  the  life  of  Jesus  ?  depends  in  a  very  particular  sense 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  369 

Christianity  and  the  Church,  our  faith  and  our  salvation.  But 
on  what  does  the  answering  of  the  momentous  question  itself 
depend  ?  The  sources  from  which  we  derive  the  life  of  Jesus 
and  our  Gospels.  On  the  nature  of  these  sources,  on  their 
trustworthiness,  their  authority,  therefore,  depends.  Especially 
the  life  of  Jesus  depends  on  the  authority  of  the  evangelical 
life  of  Jesus. 

The  agreement  of  the  Evangelists  on  the  divine  character 
of  Christ,  notwithstanding  all  their  many  differences  in  detail, 
is  of  the  greatest  consequence.  Observe  how  much  all  these 
utterances  aim  at  the  person  of  the  Saviour.  I  know  of  no 
way  of  escape.  If  Christ  was  not  what  he  claimed  to  be,  the 
Son  of  God,  then  he  spoke  with  blasphemous  audacity.  And 
how  far  from  the  representation,  common  to  all  the  Gospels, 
of  this  sublime,  heavenly  personality,  Is  the  thought  that  we 
have  here  to  do  with  a  product  of  the  reflection  and  fancy 
of  the  first  Christian  community !  To  attempt  such  an 
explanation  of  the  Gospels,  is  to  wander  off  into  the  realm 
of  the  most  unintelligible.  It  is  an  error  that  overleaps  the 
bounds  of  both  the  possible  and  the  wonderful. 


JEAN   PAUL   RICHTER. 

[Dawnings  for  Germany.     Complete  Works,  33,  36.    Cited  in  note  to  p.  247  of 
Olshausen's  "  Last  Days  of  the  Saviour."] 

An  individual  once  trod  the  earth  who  swayed  remote 
ages,  and  founded  an  eternity  of  his  own  ;  gently  blooming 
and  pliant  as  a  sunflower,  burning  and  drawing  as  the  sun, 
he  even  with  his  mild  aspect  moved  himself  and  nations  and 
centuries  together  towards  the  universal  and  primeval  Sun. 
Did  he  exist?    Then  is  there  a  providence,  or  he  were  it.  .  .  . 

It  concerns  him  who,  being  the  holiest  among  the  mighty, 
the  mightiest  among  the  holy,  lifted  with  his  pierced  hands 
empires  off  their  hinges,  turned  the  stream  of  centuries  out 
of  Its  channel,  and  still  governs  the  ages. 


370  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

ABIEL  ABBOTT    LIVERMORE. 

[Unitarian  Review.     Boston:  October,  1879.     Pp.  400,  406,  411.] 

No  Other  evidence  of  the  truth  and  authority  of  the 
Christian  faith  can  for  one  moment  compare  with  that  afforded 
by  the  character  of  Jesus.  None  is  so  vital,  persuasive, 
endurino",  as  this  proof.  None  has  stood  the  test  of  time 
so  well,  or  come  out  so  unharmed  from  the  vicissitudes  of 
opinion  or  the  processes  of  criticism.  When  most  at  sea 
upon  other  points,  even  the  most  unbelieving-  have  felt  that 
in  the  moral  excellence  of  Jesus  Christ  they  have  placed 
their  feet  upon  the  everlasting  rock.  As  a  motive  force  to 
individual  minds,  or  to  churches,  or  to  great  Christendom 
itself,  no  influence  probably  has  equalled  this  personal  attrac- 
tion which  has  silently  drawn  mankind  to  the  prophet  of 
Nazareth. 

Less  sung  or  preached  as  the  crowning  testimony,  it  is, 
nevertheless,  the  secret  fascination  which  wins  the  hearts  and 
commands  the  consciences  of  mankind.  They  may  hold  out 
successfully  against  other  arguments,  but  they  confess  them- 
selves conquered  here.  The  pure  spiritual  life  of  Jesus  has 
been  the  leaven  in  the  three  measures  of  meal.  The  wonder- 
ful beauty  of  his  life  has  been  testified  to  by  men  of  all  creeds 
and  of  no  creed.  It  has  been  heartily  recognized  by  Rous- 
seau and  Renan,  as  well  as  by  Leighton  and  Channing. 
Warriors  and  statesmen,  the  Napoleons  and  Websters,  have 
bowed  in  reverence  before  its  lofty  superiority.  Prose  and 
poetry  have  exhausted  their  resources  more  worthily  to  cele- 
brate its  purity  and  heavenly-mindedness.  The  fine  arts  have 
done  their  utmost,  and  have  retired  confessing  themselves 
unable  to  give  any  adequate  representation  of  "  the  glory 
of  (k)d  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ." 

The  expansion  in  Christendom  itself  for  eighteen  centu- 
ries, and  tlirouglioiit  the  range  of  many  nations,  of  the  aims 
and  attributes  of  him  who  set  in  motion  its  mighty  machinery 


I 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  37 1 

of  truths  and  agencies,  suggests  conclusively  the  moral  dig- 
nity of  his  character.  Nothing  out  of  nothing  comes,  and  the 
reverse  is  true.  Saints,  confessors,  and  martyrs,  the  cloud  of 
witnesses,  the  great  company  of  the  preachers,  the  churches 
that  have  exhaled  a  life-giving  moral  atmosphere  in  the  world, 
are  but  so  many  testimonies,  that  he  to  whom  they  all  date 
back  as  their  great  original  and  inspirer  bore  in  his  own  hand 
the  sceptre  of  this  unique  and  victorious  righteousness. 

He  has  created  a  new  and  loftier  standard  of  character, 
widened  the  conceptions  of  moral  excellence,  and  raised  to 
a  flame  in  myriads  of  minds  the  desire  of  holiness  by  his 
own  incalculable  force  of  will  and  aspiration.  He  has  touched 
to  finer  issues  of  motive  and  life  whole  nations  and  genera- 
tions of  our  race.  No  ordinary  character  could  sit  at  the 
centre  of  energies  like  these  which  have  operated  for  ages, 
and  which  still  operate  unspent  and  inexhaustible.  If  the 
echo  has  been  so  grand,  what  must  have  been  the  moral 
loveliness  of  the  Christ  himself?  Well  might  Paul  speak  of 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  when  all  down  the  track 
of  Christian  history  since  his  day  are  scattered  the  golden 
ingots   from   this  great  treasure-house. 

Most  characters,  even  great  ones,  are  copies :  Jesus  was 
sublimely  original.  If  he  copied  from  any  one,  it  was  not 
from  a  mortal,  but  from  the  glory  of  the  divine  perfections 
in  obedience  to  his  own  precept,  "  Be  ye  perfect,  as  your 
Father  in  heaven  is  perfect."  Great  generals  imitate  other 
generals.  The  laurels  of  Miltiades  would  not  suffer  Themis- 
tocles  to  sleep.  Alexander  carried  to  his  career  of  conquest 
the  Iliad  of  Homer,  and  fired  his  warlike  zeal  by  the  deeds 
of  Achilles  and  the  heroes  of  Greece.  Napoleon  was  always 
measuring  himself  with  Caesar  and  other  great  warriors.  Poets 
catch  inspiration  from  the  masters  of  the  art  who  have  gone 
before  them.  Homer  lighted  the  torch  for  X^irml  Dante,  and 
Milton,  and  he  speaks  of  those  who  went  before  him.  There 
were  kings  before  Agamemnon.  The  lineage  of  saints,  too, 
has  been  handed  down  from  o-eneration  to  o-eneration. 


372  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

But  the  life  of  Jesus  is  unlike  that  of  any  of  the  worthies 
of  the  classical  or  biblical  record.  Perhaps  those  most  like 
him  were  his  two  leading  apostles,  John  and  Paul ;  Paul  as  a 
type  of  his  energy  and  enterprise,  and  John  as  the  embodi- 
ment of  his  sweetness  and  lov^e.  Yet  how  very  unlike  in 
many  respects  they  were  to  him  !  He  gave  a  type  all  his 
own,  transplanting  divine  qualities  of  mingled  mercy  and 
majesty  into  his  life,  because  he  lived  and  moved  and  had 
his  being  in  God,  and  was  one  with  him  in  a  holy  and  tender 
sympathy. 

Here  we  behold  the  ever-renewing  hope  of  our  civilization 
and  the  progress  of  the  world.  It  is  not,  it  cannot  be,  in  any 
of  the  arts,  fine  or  practical ;  in  any  of  the  sciences  that  deal 
with  matter  or  material  interests ;  in  external  forms  of  social 
arrangement  and  government,  though  they  may  be  cried  up 
to  the  skies  as  the  sure  panacea  for  all  the  evils  of  the  world. 
That  hope  still  lies,  in  spite  of  all  our  boasted  systems  of 
human  amelioration,  substantially  and  necessarily  in  man's 
moral  regeneration.  This  only  reaches  the  root  of  the  matter. 
And  that  power  of  moral  regeneration  is  lodged,  more  than 
anywhere  else,  in  the  vivifying  power  of  the  life  and  character 
of  Jesus  upon  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  mankind.  There 
it  takes  its  purest  form,  and  breathes  its  holiest  spirit. 


WILLIAM    GRIFFITHS. 

[Divine  Footprints  in  the  Field  of  Revelation.    London  :  1S79.     P.  269  et  stq?^ 

None  who  knew  our  Lord  could  fail  to  be  struck  b)-  the 
spotless  integrity  and  deep  seriousness  of  his  demeanor.  He 
resorted  to  no  underhand  methods,  and  cherished  no  sinister 
designs.  He  did  not  propitiate  the  great,  so  as  to  stave  off 
their  wrath,  or  pander  to  the  vices  of  the  populace  so  as  to 
win  their  applause,  or  spare  his  disciples  in  order  to  hide  their 
faults.  He  could  l)e  as  severe  in  the  treatment  of  obstinate 
offenders,  however  high  in  station  or  power,  or  closely  related 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  373 

to  himself,  as  he  was  uniformly  gentle  toward  the  weak  and 
penitent. 

The  arts  of  flattery  and  conciliation  seem  to  have  been 
unknown  to  him.  He  humored  no  man,  but  uniformly  acted 
and  spoke  as  in  presence  of  eternal  rectitude.  To  utter  the 
true,  and  do  the  riofht,  was  at  all  times  his  sole  and  rulino- 
object.  From  the  law  of  righteousness  he  never  swerved. 
Conscience  in  him  exercised  imperial  sway.  He  was  the  very 
personification  of  purity  and  light. 

Nothing  shone  more  brightly  in  the  nature  of  Jesus  than 
good-will  towards  men.  Acts  of  pity  and  love  were  his 
constant  employ.     He  lived  to  relieve  the  sorrows  of  earth. 

Truth  and  love,  in  the  perfectly  balanced  spirit  of  the 
Son  of  God,  held  equal  place.  Neither  rose  at  the  expense 
of  the  other.  Justice  did  not  burst  into  unfeeling  sternness  ; 
tenderness  did  not  sink  into  weak  familiarity. 

Jesus  stooped  to  no  dignified  airs.  He  did  not  act 
greatness.  The  overwhelming  mass  of  men  from  the  most 
unlettered  to  the  most  refined,  and  representing  nearly  every 
phase  of  opinion,  have  but  one  verdict  to  pass  on  the  charac- 
ter of  Jesus.  They  vie  with  one  another  in  paying  homage 
to  him  who  reached  a  standard  which  it  would  have  been 
impossible  for  them  to  conceive. 

No  skill  in  word-painting  can  limn  our  thought  of  the 
faultless  One.  As  means  of  its  adumbration,  the  pen,  tongue, 
and  pencil  are  alike  feeble.  The  failure  of  our  powers  should 
make  us  appreciate  keenly  the  graphic  power  of  the  Evan- 
gelists. Our  defeat  is  a  foil  to  their  triumph.  How  strange 
that  several  unpretending  Jews  should  have  bequeathed  to 
us  an  august  form  which  art  and  eloquence  have  since  been 
unable  to  trace!  By  what  means  did  these  four  simple-minded 
men  —  one  a  tax-gatherer,  another  a  fisherman  from  the  Lake 
of  Galilee  —  manage  to  compile  inimitable  masterpieces  of 
biographical  literature  ?  And  how  did  it  happen  that  their 
subject  should  be  the  one  which  it  most  concerned  the  world 
to  be  acquainted  with  ? 


374  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

In  trying  to  account  for  the  fortunate  eminence  of  these 
authors,  we  have  no  reasonable  alternative.  The  facts  admit 
of  but  a  single  explanation.  The  success  of  the  Evangelists, 
not  due  to  special  merit,  is  due  to  special  privilege  alone. 
The  providence  and  Spirit  of  God  conspired  in  their  favor, 
or  it  would  have  been  impossible  for  them  to  have  conferred 
the  boon  which  we  inherit  from  their  peerless  pens. 


MATTHEW   ARNOLD. 

[Literature  and  Dogma.     New  York:  1873.     Pp.  190-193,  197,  19S,  208.] 

Now,  if  we  describe  the  work  of  Christ  by  a  short  expres- 
sion which  may  give  the  clearest  view  of  it,  we  shall  describe 
it  thus  :  that  he  came  to  restore  the  intuition.  He  came,  it  is 
true,  to  save,  and  to  give  eternal  life  ;  but  the  way  in  which  he 
did  this  was  by  restoring  the  intnition. 

He  found  Israel  all  astray,  with  an  endless  talk  about  God, 
the  law,  righteousness,  the  kingdom,  everlasting  life,  and  no 
real  hold  upon  any  one  of  them.  Israel's  old,  sure  proof  of 
being  in  the  right  way,  —  the  sanction  of  joy  and  peace, — 
was  plainly  wanting;  and  this  was  a  test  which  anybody  could 
at  once  apply.  "  O  Eternal,  blessed  is  the  man  that  putteth 
his  trust  in  thee,"  was  a  corner-stone  of  Israel's  religion. 
Now,  the  Jewish  people,  however  they  might  talk  about 
putting  their  trust  in  the  Eternal,  were  evidently,  as  they  stood 
there  before  Jesus,  not  blessed  at  all ;  and  they  knew  it  them- 
selves as  w^ell  as  he  did.  "  Great  peace  have  they  who  love 
thy  law,"  was  another  corner-stone.  But  the  Jewish  people 
had  at  that  time  in  its  soul  as  little  peace  as  it  had  joy  and 
blessedness;  it  was  seethino- with  inward  unrest,  irritation,  and 
trouble.  Yet  the  way  of  the  Eternal  was  most  indubitably  a 
way  of  peace  and  joy  ;  so,  if  Israel  felt  no  peace  and  no  joy, 
it  could  not  1)(^  walking  in  the  way  of  the  Eternal.  Here 
we  hav(!  th(,'  lirm,  unchanging  ground  on  which  the  operations 
of  Jesus  both  began  and  always  proceeded.   .   .   . 


I 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  375 

Search  and  sift  and  renew  the  idea  of  righteousness,  Jesus 
did.  And  though  the  work  of  Jesus,  hke  the  name  of  God, 
calls  up  in  the  believer  a  multitude  of  emotions  and  associa- 
tions far  more  than  any  brief  definition  can  cover,  yet, 
remembering  Jeremy  Taylor's  advice  to  avoid  exhortations  to 
get  Christ,  to  be  in  CJirist,  and  to  seek  some  more  distinct 
and  practical  way  of  speaking  of  him,  we  shall  not  do  ill, 
perhaps,  if  we  summarize  to  our  own  minds  his  work,  by 
saying  that  he  restored  the  intuition  of  God  through  trans- 
forming the  idea  of  righteousness  ;  and  that,  to  do  this,  he 
brought  a  method,  and  he  brought  a  secret.  And  of  those  two 
great  words  which  fill  such  a  place  in  his  Gospel,  repentance 
and  peace,  as  we  see  that  his  apostles,  when  they  preached  his 
Gospel,  preached  "  repentance  unto  life,"  and  ''peace  through 
Jesus  Christ," — of  these  two  great  words,  one,  repentance, 
attaches  itself,  we  shall  find,  to  his  method ;  and  the  other, 
peace,  to  his  secret.   .   .   . 

The  man  who  is  founded  upon  rock  is  always,  as  Jesus 
said,  the  man  who  does,  never  the  man  who  only  hears.  To 
say,  Look  within,  was  therefore  not  every  thing ;  yet  we  none 
of  us,  probably,  enough  feel  the  power  which  at  first  resided 
in  the  mere  saying  of  it,  as  Christ  said  it.  And  this  is 
because  his  words  have  become  so  trite  to  us,  that  we  fail  to 
see  how  powerfully  they  were  all  adapted  to  call  forth  the  new 
habit  of  inwardness ;  and  if  we  want  to  see  this,  we  must  for 
a  time  either  retranslate  his  words  for  ourselves,  or  paraphase 
them.  .  .  .  Instead,  then,  of,  "  Grace  and  truth  came  through 
Jesus  Christ,"  let  us  say,  "  Happiness  and  reality  came 
through  Jesus  Christ ;  "  instead  of,  "  To  know  the  grace  of 
God  in  truth,"  "  To  know  the  happiness  of  God  in  reality!' 
Even  if  the  new  rendering  is  not  so  literally  correct  as  the 
old,  not  permanently  to  be  adopted,  it  will  be  of  use  to  us  for 
a  while  to  show  us  how  the  words  work.   .   .  . 

Jesus  not  only  saw  this  great  necessary  truth  of  there  being, 
as  Aristotle  says,  in  human  nature  a  part  to  rule  and  a  part 
to  be  ruled ;  he  saw  so  tJioroiighly,  that  he  saw  through  the 


376  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

suffering  at  its  surface  to  the  joy  at  its  centre,  filled  it  with 
promise  and  hope,  and  made  it  infinitely  attractive.  As  Israel, 
therefore,  is  "  the  people  of  righteousness,"  because,  though 
others  have  perceived  the  importance  of  righteousness,  Israel, 
above  every  one,  perceived  the  happiness  of  it ;  so  self- 
renouncement,  the  main  factor  in  conduct  or  righteousness,  is 
"  the  secret  of  Jesus,"  because,  though  others  have  seen  that 
it  was  necessary,  Jesus,  above  every  one,  saw  that  it  was  peace, 
joy,  life. 

WILLIAM    E.    H.    LECKY. 

[History  of  the   Rise  and    Influence  of   Rationalism   in   Europe.     London : 
1872.    Vol.  i.  pp.  306-308.] 

There  is  but  one  example  of  a  religion  which  is  not 
necessarily  subverted  by  civilization,  and  that  example  is 
Christianity.  In  all  other  cases  the  decay  of  dogmatic  concep- 
tions is  tantamount  to  a  complete  annihilation  of  the  religion ; 
for,  although  there  may  be  imperishable  elements  of  moral 
truth  mingled  with  those  conceptions,  they  have  nothing  dis- 
tinctive or  peculiar.  The  moral  truths  coalesce  with  new 
systems;  the  men  who  uttered  them  take  their  place  with 
many  others  in  the  great  pantheon  of  history;  and  the  religion, 
having  discharged  its  functions,  is  spent  and  withered.  But 
the  great  characteristic  of  Christianity,  and  the  great  moral 
proof  of  its  divinity,  is  that  it  has  been  the  main  source  of  the 
moral  development  of  Europe,  and  that  it  has  discharged  this 
office  not  so  much  by  the  inculcation  of  a  system  of  ethics, 
however  pure,  as  by  the  a.ssimilating  and  attractive  influence 
of  a  jjcrfect  ideal. 

'1  he  moral  progress  of  mankind  can  never  cease  to  be 
distinctively  and  intensely  Christian  as  long  as  it  consists 
of  a  gradual  ai)i)roximation  to  the  character  of  the  Christian 
Founder.  Th(,'re  is,  indeed,  nothing  more  wonderful  in  the 
history  of  llu;  luiiiian  race,  than  the  wa)-  in  which  this  ideal 
has  traversed  the  la[)se  of  ages,  acquiring  a  new  strength  and 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  2>77 

beauty  with  each  advance  of  civihzation,  and  infusing  its 
beneficent  influence  into  every  sphere  of  thought  and  action. 

At  first,  men  sought  to  grasp  by  minute  dogmatic  defini- 
tions the  divinity  they  felt.  The  controversies  of  the  Homoou- 
sians  or  Monophysites  or  Nestorians  or  Patripassians,  and 
many  others  whose  very  names  now  sound  strange  and 
remote,  then  filled  the  Church.  Then  came  the  period  of 
visible  representations.  The  handkerchief  of  Veronica,  the 
portrait  of  Edessa,  the  crucifix  of  Nicodemus,  the  paintings  of 
St.  Luke,  the  image  traced  by  an  angel's  hand  which  is  still 
venerated  at  the  Lateran,  the  countless  visions  narrated  by 
the  saints,  show  the  eag-erness  with  which  men  sought  to 
realize,  as  a  palpable  and  living  image,  their  ideal. 

This  age  was  followed  by  that  of  historical  evidences,  the 
age  of  Sebonde  and  his  followers.  Yet  more  and  more 
with  advancing  years  the  moral  ideal  stood  out  from  all  dog- 
matic conceptions;  and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  at  no 
former  period  was  it  so  powerful,  or  so  universally  acknowl- 
edged, as  at  present.  This  is  a  phenomenon  altogether 
unique  in  history ;  and  to  those  who  recognize  in  the  highest 
type  of  excellence  the  highest  revelation  of  the  Deity,  its 
importance  is  too  manifest  to  be  overlooked. 


EZRA    STILES    GANNETT. 

[Memoirs.     Boston:  1875.     Pp-  447>  448'  4S9,  490.] 

The  chai^acter  of  Christ:  on  this  infinite  theme  I  wish 
it  were  possible  for  me  to  utter  my  own  feelings.  I  call  it  an 
infinite  theme,  for  such  it  appears  to  me.  It  comprises,  I 
believe,  all  that  can  be  known  of  God  or  of  human  duty. 
Unlike  every  other  being  that  has  appeared  on  earth,  he  was 
sinless  and  perfect.  We  behold  in  him  an  unparalleled  com- 
bination of  virtues.  He  united  the  most  dissimilar  traits, — 
dignity  and  humility,  consciousness  of  power  with  meekness 
and  tenderness,  the  most  delicate  sensibility  with  an  adaman- 


378  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

tine  fortitude,  devotion  to  the  will  of  God  with  boundless 
philanthropy,  abhorrence  of  sin  with  compassion  for  the  sinner, 
excellence  on  the  broadest  scale  with  fidelity  to  duty  in  the 
minutest  details.  There  was  no  defect,  and  no  excess.  We 
cannot  imagine  his  character  despoiled  of  a  single  attribute, 
and  not  perceive  that  it  would  be  injured  by  the  loss.  We 
cannot  add  a  single  grace  that  would  not  mar  its  symmetry. 
It  was  his  prerogative,  and  his  alone,  to  reply  to  one  who 
desired  to  see  God,  "  He  who  has  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father."  In  him  were  hidden  all  the  treasures  of  knowledge 
and  love.  In  him  was  truth  embodied.  In  his  character  the 
everlasting  principles  of  the  divine  government,  the  essential 
doctrines  of  religion,  were  manifested.  "  I  am,"  said  he,  "  the 
truth." 

Here  Jesus  Christ  stood  alone.  "  Greater  works  than 
these  shall  ye  do,"  said  he  to  his  disciples ;  but  not  a  greater 
miracle  than  I  am  shall  you  offer  to  men's  admiration,  —  he 
made  no  such  promise.  Peter,  John,  Paul,  was  not  a  second 
Christ.  No !  he  was  alone  in  the  grandeur  and  beauty  and 
perfection  of  his  character.  We  must  assign  to  this  prodigy 
an  adequate  purpose ;  and  while  I  can  discover  nothing  short 
of  that  which  considers  it  a  revelation  —  not  an  evidence  nor 
a  sanction,  not  the  credential  nor  the  seal,  but  a  revelation  — 
of  truth,  while  I  find  nothing  short  of  this  that  will  satisfy  me, 
I  rest  here  in  the  conviction  that  I  have  found  its  meaninij,  its 
purpose,  its  justification,  its  worth,  and  its  glory. 

But  how  is  Christ  known  ?  by  an  intellectual  examination, 
or  by  a  moral  appreciation  ?  Neither  through  metaphysical 
nor  through  psychological  study  shall  we  find  the  avenue  to 
an  ac(|uaintance  with  him  on  whom  his  enemies  endeavored 
to  fasten  the  charge  of  blasphemy  because  he  called  himself 
the  "  Son  of  God."  We  do  not  put  ourselves  in  relations  of 
intimacy  with  Christ  in  this  way.  Is  it.  then,  by  making  our- 
selves familiar  with  every  incident  that  the  Evangelists  offer 
for  onr  study,  till  we  can  describes  llie  whole  outward  life  of 
Jesus  as  if   it  luul   been  passed  under  our  own  eyes?     If  our 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  379 

knowledge  of  him  be  confined  to  the  external  history,  we 
mipfht  almost  as  well  have  studied  Worcester  or  Robinson  as 
Matthew  and  John.  They  know  Christ  who  approach  him 
through  s)mpathy,  welcome  him  through  faith,  receive  him 
into  believing  Jiearts.  There  his  character  discloses  its  beauty, 
its  power,  and  its  value  as  a  revelation  of  the  one  character, 
which,  like  the  divine  appearance,  can  only  be  made  known 
by  sign  or  by  reflection,  never  in  its  awful  radiance.  He  that 
hath  realized  the  spiritual  influence  of  Christ  is  alone  able  to 
understand  that  personal  superiority  which  made  him  the 
image  of  the  majesty  on  high,  the  milder  type'  of  the  inac- 
cessible glory. 

If  we  would  perceive  yet  more  clearly  the  superiority  of 
the  Christian  religion  to  all  other  forms  of  faith,  and  of  Christ 
to  all  other  teachers,  we  need  only  compare  him  with  others 
who  have  been  eminent  as  instructors  of  their  race,  or  his 
Gospel  with  other  systems  of  belief.  We  will  leave  the  ancient 
world.  Pagan  philosophy,  or  Jewish  wisdom,  and  come  to  later 
times.  In  all  the  teaching  of  great  men  who  have  founded 
communities  or  gathered  sects,  or  left  the  impress  of  their 
own  minds  on  society,  you  find  something  which  was  not 
great.  The  trivial  and  the  mean  are  bound  up  with  the  grand 
and  the  beautiful.  The  proportions  of  the  building  are  not 
preserved.  The  noble  entrance  leads  to  an  unfinished 
interior,  or  the  humble  gateway  does  not  correspond  to  the 
spacious  courts  into  which  it  opens.  A  massive  pillar  rests 
on  a  slight  foundation,  or  a  solid  base  supports  no  column. 
Weakness  and  strength  are  joined  together.  Imperfection 
mars  the  whole  work.  There  is  something  in  every  one's  dis- 
course which  you  wish  for  his  sake  to  be  omitted.  Great 
writers  cannot  get  away  from  their  own  littleness.  Calvin 
must  dogmatize,  and  Luther  must  rail,  and  Swedenborg 
abound  in  idle  conceits.  But  he  who  spake  as  never  man 
spake  is  always  consistent,  always  great.  There  was  nothing 
little,  either  in  him  or  his  religion,  nothing  he  would  wish  to 
efface.     This  young  man  of  Galilee,  as  we  see  him,  who  was 


380  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

born  in  obscurity  and  cradled  in  fear,  whose  education  was  a 
simple  mother's  care,  who  had  no  books  and  no  masters,  never 
sat  at  Gamaliel's  feet,  nor  listened  to  Grecian  sages  or  Egy^p- 
tian  priests,  —  this  plain,  humble  Nazarene  speaks  words  which 
not  only  pierce  the  heart  of  humanity,  and  at  which  the  ages 
tremble,  but  says  nothing  that  is  poor,  false,  or  narrow.  All  is 
great,  and  all  is  harmonious.  Explain  this,  unbelief.  Solve 
this  intellectual  problem,  this  moral  wonder.  Listen  to  the 
Son  of  Mary,  ye  men  of  this  generation,  as  if  now  for  the  first 
time  the  sound  of  his  instruction  had  reached  your  ears  ;  and 
see  if  you  must  not  pronounce  the  teaching  and  the  teacher 
divine. 


ROBERT    S.    CANDLISH. 

[The  Gospel  of  Forgiveness.     Edinburgh :  1878.     Pp.  305,  306.] 

With  us,  power  is  commonly  violent ;  and  wisdom  artful, 
ingenious,  inventive.  We  measure  power  by  the  din  and 
noise  and  tumult  it  creates ;  we  measure  wisdom  by  its 
shrewd  guesses  and  apt  contrivances  and  plans.  But  nothing 
of  all  this  is  to  be  found  about  the  holy  Jesus.  He  makes 
no  mighty  stir  when  he  exerts  his  power  ;  he  surprises  by  no 
mere  exercise  of  ingenuity,  when  he  manifests  his  wisdom. 
Calmness,  simplicity,  repose,  and  what  might  almost  be  called 
unconsciousness,  are  the  features  that  most  distinguish  his 
manner.  There  is  nothing  fitful  or  capricious  in  Christ  as  the 
power  of  God,  —  nothing  like  the  putting-forth  of  a  giant's 
or  a  tyrant's  might.  There  is  nothing  strained  and  refined,  or 
artful,  in  Christ  as  the  wisdom  of  God  :  his  wisdom  is  not 
mere  knowing  or  cunning.  Power  with  him  is  serene  and 
unimpassioned.  Wisdom  with  him  is  always  self-possessed, 
calm  and  clear  in  the  uiu-uftled  fulness  of  its  infinite  fore- 
thought and  foresight  and  insight ;  and  hence  the  grandeur 
ol  his  character.  Excitement  may  be  great,  but  repose  is 
greater. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  38 1 

GOLDWIN    SMITH. 

[Lectures  and  Essays.     New  York  :  1874.     Pp.  96,  97.] 

It  must  surely  be  apparent  to  the  moral  philosopher,  no 
less  than  to  the  student  of  history,  that  at  the  time  of  the 
appearance  of  Christianity  a  crisis  took  place  in  the  develop- 
ment of  humanity,  which  may  not  unfitly  be  described  as  the 
commencement  of  spiritual  life.   .   .   . 

Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity,  by  which  the  Gospel  desigrnates 
the  triple  manifestation  of  spiritual  life,  are  new  names  for 
new  things ;  for  it  is  needless  to  say  that  in  classical  Greek 
the  words  have  nothing  like  their  Gospel  signification. 

It  w^ould  be  difficult,  we  believe,  to  find  in  any  Greek  or 
Roman  writer  an  expression  of  hope  for  the  future  of  humanity. 
The  nearest  approach  to  such  a  sentiment,  perhaps,  is  in  the 
political  Utopianism  of  Plato.  The  social  ideal  is  placed  in  a 
golden  age  which  has  irretrievably  passed  away.  Virgil's 
Fourth  Eclogue,  even  were  it  a  more  serious  production  than 
it  is,  seems  to  refer  to  nothing  more  than  the  pacification  of 
the  Roman  Empire,  and  the  restoration  of  its  material 
prosperity  by  Augustus. 

But  Christianity  in  the  Apocalypse  at  once  breaks  forth 
into  a  confident  prediction  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  good 
over  evil  and  of  the  realization  of  the  ideal. 

The  moral  aspiration  —  the  striving  after  an  ideal  of  char- 
acter, personal  and  social,  the  former  in  and  through  the 
latter  —  seems  to  be  the  special  note  of  the  life,  institutions, 
literature,  and  art  of  Christendom.  Christian  fiction,  for 
example,  is  pervaded  by  an  interest  in  the  development  and 
elevation  of  character,  for  which  we  look  in  vain  in  the  "Arabian 
Nights,"  where  there  is  no  development  of  character,  nothing 
but  incident  and  adventure.  Christian  sculpture,  inferior  per- 
haps in  workmanship  to  that  of  Phidias,  derives  Its  superior 
interest  from  Its  constant  suggestion  of  a  superior  Ideal.  The 
Christian  lives,  in  a  manner,  two  lives,  —  an  outward  one  of 


382  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

necessary  conformity  to  the  fashions  and  ordinances  of  the 
present  world  ;  an  inner  one  of  protest  against  the  present 
world,  and  an  anticipation  of  an  ideal  state  of  things  ;  and 
this  duality  is  reproduced  in  the  separate  existence  of  the 
spiritual  society  or  Church,  submitting  to  existing  social 
arrangements,  yet  struggling  to  transcend  them,  and  to  trans- 
mute society  by  the  realization  of  the  Christian  social  ideal. 
With  this  is  connected  a  readiness  to  sacrifice  present  to  future 
good,  and  the  interests  of  the  present  world  to  those  of  the 
world  of  hope.  Apart  from  this,  the  death  of  Christ  (and 
that  of  Socrates  too),  instead  of  being  an  instance  of  "  sweet 
reasonableness,"  would  be  out  of  the  pale  of  reason 
altogether. 


JAMES    MARTINEAU. 

[Studies  of  Christianity.     P.  20.] 

The  universe  gives  us  the  scale  of  God,  and  Christ  his 
spirit.  We  climb  to  the  infinitude  of  his  nature  by  the  awful 
pathway  of  the  stars,  where  whole  forests  of  worlds  silently 
quiver  here  and  there  like  a  small  leaf  of  light.  W^e  dive 
into  his  eternity  through  the  ocean  waves  of  time,  that  roll 
and  solemnly  break  on  the  imagination,  as  we  trace  the 
wrecks  of  departed  things  upon  our  present  globe.  The 
scope  of  his  intellect  and  the  majesty  of  his  rule  are  seen  in 
the  tranquil  order  and  everlasting  silence  that  reign  through 
the  fields  of  his  volition.  And  the  spirit  that  animates  the 
whole  is  lik(,'  that  of  the  prophet  of  Nazareth  ;  the  thoughts 
that  fly  upon  the  swift  light  throughout  creation,  charged 
with  fates  unnumbered,  are  like  the  healing  mercies  of  one 
who  passed  no  sorrow  by.  A  faith  that  spreads  around  and 
within  the  mind  a  Deity  thus  sublime  and  holy,  feeds  the  life 
of  every  y\\\\\  aflection,  and  presses  with  omnipotent  power 
on  the  conscience  ;  and  our  only  prayer  is,  that  we  may  walk 
as  children  of  such  liL-ht. 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  383 


HENRY   WARD    BEECHER. 

[The  Life  of  Jesus  the  Christ.    New  York:  1S71.    Vol.  i.  p.  140  et  seq?^ 

There  is  absolutely  nothing-  to  determine  the  personal 
appearance  of  Jesus.  Some  ideas  of  his  bearing,  and  many 
of  his  habits,  may  be  gathered  from  incidental  comments 
recorded  in  the  Gospels.  But  to  his  form,  his  height,  the 
character  of  his  face  or  of  any  single  feature  of  it,  there  is  not 
the  slightest  allusion.  Had  Jesus  lived  in  Greece,  we  should 
have  had  a  very  close  portraiture  of  his  person  and  coun- 
tenance. Of  the  great  men  of  Greece,  —  of  Socrates,  of 
Demosthenes,  of  Pericles,  and  of  many  others,  —  we  have 
more  or  less  accurate  details  of  personal  appearance.  Coins 
and  statues  reveal  the  features  of  the  Roman  contemxporaries 
of  Jesus.  But  of  him,  the  one  historic  personage  of  whose 
form  and  face  the  whole  world  most  desires  some  knowledo-e, 
there  is  not  a  trace  or  a  hint. 

The  disciples  were  neither  literary  nor  artistic  men.  It 
is  doubtful  whether  the  genius  of  the  race  to  which  they 
belonged  ever  inclined  them  to  personal  descriptions  or 
delineations.  .   .   . 

We  cannot  wonder,  therefore,  that  there  was  nothing 
which  was  at  any  time  said  by  the  common  people,  or  by  their 
teachers  and  rulers,  and  that  nothing  fell  out  upon  his  trial, 
among  Roman  spectators,  and  nothing  in  the  subsequent 
history,  which  throws  a  ray  of  light  upon  the  personal  appear- 
ance of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

We  know  not  whether  he  was  of  moderate  height  or  tall, 
whether  his  hair  was  dark  or  light,  whether  his  eyes  were 
blue  or  gray  or  piercing  black.  We  have  no  hint  of  mouth 
or  brow,  or  posture,  gesture,  or  of  those  personal  peculiarities 
which  give  to  every  man  his  individual  look.  All  is  blank, 
although  four  separate  accounts  of  him  were  written  within 
fifty  years  of  his  earthly  life.  He  is  to  us  a  personal  power 
without  a  form,  a  name  of  wonder  without  portraiture.     It  is 


384  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

true  that  there  is  a  conventional  head  of  Christ,  which  has 
come  down  to  us  through  the  schools  of  art ;  but  it  is  of  no 
direct  historic  value.   .   .   . 

As  Christ  spiritually  united  in  himself  all  nationalities,  so 
in  art  his  head  has  a  certain  universality.  All  races  find  in 
it  something  of  their  race  features.  The  head  of  Christ,  as  it 
come  to  us  from  the  great  Italian  masters,  is  to  art  what  the 
heart  of  Christ  has  been  to  the  human  race.  .  .  .  No  one 
view  of  the  head  of  Jesus  can  satisfy  the  desires  of  a  devout 
spectator.  It  is  impossible  for  art  to  combine  majesty  and 
meekness,  suffering  and  joy,  indignation  and  love,  sternness 
and  tenderness,  grief  and  triumph,  in  the  same  face  at  one 
time.  Yet  some  special  representations  may  come  much 
nearer  to  satisfying  us  than  others.  The  head  and  face  of 
Christ  by  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  in  the  Last  Supper,  even  in  its 
present  wasted  condition,  produces  an  impression  upon  a 
sensitive  nature  which  it  will  never  forget,  -nor  wish  to 
forget. 

Note.  —  About  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  there  appeared  a  famous 
letter  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  one  Publius  Lentulus,  a  friend 
of  Pilate,  giving  a  detailed  and  most  graphic  description  of  the  prophet  of 
Nazareth.  Though  this  portraiture  has  no  historical  value,  it  gives  what  is 
probably  the  best  pen-and-ink  sketch  in  literature  of  the  ideal  form  and 
features  of  Jesus. 

"  In  this  time  appeared  a  man  who  hves  till  now,  —  a  man  endowed  with 
great  powers.  Men  call  him  a  great  prophet :  his  own  disciples  term  him  the 
Son  of  God.  His  name  is  Jesus  Christ.  He  restores  the  dead  to  life,  and 
cures  the  sick  of  all  manner  of  diseases. 

"  This  man  is  of  noble  and  well-proportioned  stature,  with  a  face  full  of 
kindness  and  yet  firmness,  so  that  the  beholders  both  love  him  and  fear  him. 
His  hair  is  the  color  of  wine,  and  golden  at  the  roots,  straight  and  without 
lustre,  but  from  the  level  of  the  ears  curling  and  glossy,  and  divided  down  the 
centre  after  the  fashion  of  the  Nazarenes.  His  forehead  is  even  and  smooth, 
his  face  without  blemish,  and  enhanced  by  a  tempered  bloom.  His  coun- 
tenance is  ingenuous  and  kind.  Nose  and  mouth  are  in  no  way  foulty.  His 
beard  is  full,  of  the  same  color  of  his  hair,  and  forked  in  form;  his  eyes 
blue  and  extremely  brilliant. 

"  In  reproof  and  rebuke  he  is  formidable ;  in  exhortation  and   teaching, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  385 

gentle  and  amiable  of  tongue.  None  have  seen  him  to  laugh  ;  but  many,  on 
the  contrary,  to  weep.  His  person  is  tall,  his  hands  beautiful  and  straight. 
In  speaking  he  is  deliberate  and  grave,  and  little  given  to  loquacity.  In  beauty, 
surpassing  most  men." 

Every  system,  whether  of  philosophy  or  rehgion,  that  was 
ever  propounded  before  Christianity,  might  be  received  with- 
out any  knowledge,  in  the  disciples,  of  the  person  of  its 
teacher.  The  Pharisee  and  the  Buddhist  believe  in  a  system 
more  than  in  a  person.  What  Plato  taught  was  more  impor- 
tant than  what  Plato  himself  was.  One  may  accept  all  of 
Socrates'  teaching  without  caring  for  Socrates  himself.  Even 
Paul's  development  of  Christian  ideas  does  not  require  that 
one  should  accept  Paul.  Not  so  Christianity.  Christianity  is 
faith  in  Christ.  The  vital  union  of  our  souls  with  his  was  the 
sum  of  his  teaching,  the  means  by  which  our  nature  was  to  be 
carried  up  to  God  ;  all  other  doctrines  were  auxiliary  to  this 
union,  or  a  guide  to  the  life  which  should  spring  from  it.  To 
live  in  him,  to  have  him  dwelling  in  us,  to  lose  our  personality 
in  his,  and  to  have  it  returned  to  us  purified  and  ennobled,  — 
this  is  the  very  marrow  of  his  teaching.   .   ,   . 

The  very  genius  of  Christianity,  then,  requires  a  distinct 
conception,  not  of  Christ's  person,  but  of  his  personality.  This 
may  account  for  the  structure  of  the  Gospels.  They  are 
neither  journals  nor  itineraries ;  still  less  are  they  orderly 
expositions  of  doctrine.  The  Gospels  are  the  collective 
reminiscences  of  Christ  by  the  most  impressible  of  his  disci- 
ples. We  find,  therefore,  as  might  be  expected,  in  all  the 
Gospels,  pictures  of  Christ  which  represent  the  social  and 
spiritual  elements  of  his  life,  rather  than  the  corporeal.  If 
these  biographies  be  compared  with  the  physical  portraiture 
of  heroes  and  gods  which  classic  literature  has  furnished,  the 
contrast  will  be  striking.  The  Gospels  give  a  portrait,  not  of 
attitudes  or  of  features,  but  of  the  disposition  and  of  the 
soul.   .   .   . 

It  is  difficult  to  think  of  him  as  specialized,  either  to  any 
nation,   or    to    any  class    or   profession.     He  was    universal. 


386  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Although  he  had  the  sanctity  of  the  priest,  he  was  more  than 
priest.  Though  he  had  a  philosopher's  wisdom,  he  had  a 
royal  sympathy  with  all  of  human  life,  quite  foreign  to  the 
philosophic  temper.  He  was  more  than  a  prophet,  more  than 
a  Jew.  He  touched  human  life  on  every  side,  though  chiefly 
in  its  spiritual  elements.  He  moved  alike  among  men  of 
every  kind,  and  was  at  home  with  each.  Among  the  poor 
he  was  as  if  poor ;  among  the  rich,  as  if  bred  to  wealth. 
Among  children  he  was  a  familiar  companion  ;  among  doc- 
tors of  theology,  an  unmatched  disputant.  Sympathy,  versa- 
tility, and  universality  are  the  terms  which  may  with  justice 
be  applied  to  him. 


WILLIAM    S.    TYLER. 

[The  Son  of  Man.     Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Andover:  1865.     Vol.  xxii.  pp.  59-63.] 

Most  men  are  not  only  small  patterns,  but  mere  fragments, 
of  humanity.  You  must  put  a  great  many  of  them  together 
to  make  a  real  man.  To  make  up  our  ideal  of  man,  we  must 
unite  all  that  is  highest  and  best  in  the  biography  and  history 
of  mankind,  written  and  unwritten,  and  refine  it  of  all  that 
is  impure  and  unreal  and  abnormal,  leaving  only  the  pure 
gold.     Such  an  ideal  is  realized  in  the  humanity  of  Christ. 

Christ  had  no  individual  idiosyncrasies.  You  cannot  say 
he  was  more  like  Peter  or  Paul,  or  James  or  John.  You  must 
have  put  together  Peter  and  Paul,  and  James  and  John,  or 
all  that  was  normal  and  good  in  them,  and  all  that  was  right 
and  good  in  all  other  men  that  ever  lived,  to  make  up  the 
human  nature  of  Christ. 

There  have  been  a  few  men  in  the  history  of  the  world 
who  seem  to  understand  all  other  men,  to  be  able  to  repro- 
duce men  of  all  ages  and  nations,  because  they  comprehend 
all  men  in  their  universal  and  comprehensive  genius.  To 
call  Jesus  of  Nazareth  by  any  of  those  epithets  by  which  we 
distinguish    Homer    or   Shakspcare,   as   the    many-sided,  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  387 

myriad-minded,  and  the  like,  were  only  to  degrade  our  con- 
ceptions of  him.  And  yet  this  class  of  men  may  serve  as 
types  and  images  of  him  whom  we  have  styled  the  universal 
and  ideal  man.  Only  he  was  the  ^//-sided,  the  rt;//-minded, 
the  all-hearted,  the  all-comprehending  type  of  humanity ;  the 
antitype  of  all  that  is  beautiful  and  good  in  the  past  history 
and  character  of  man,  and  the  prototype  of  all  that  man  is 
capable  of  becoming,  all  that  a  pure  heart  can  wish,  or  a  holy 
imagination  can  conceive,  in  the  future  progress  of  the  race. 

Christ  had  none  of  the  prejudices  of  the  class  to  which  he 
belonged,  or  of  the  section  in  which  he  was  born  and  brought 
up.  He  was  only  a  poor  man  in  condition.  He  was  just  as 
much  at  home  and  at  ease  with  the  rich,  provided  only  they 
were  good.  He  was  a  Nazarene  and  a  Galilaean  only  in  origin. 
He  had  none  of  the  rusticity  of  an  obscure  village ;  none  of 
the  narrowness  of  a  despised  province.  Country  and  city 
were  alike  to  him.  He  taught  with  equal  freedom  and 
authority  in  a  fisherman's  boat  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  in 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem. 

He  had  no  national  peculiarities.  He  was  born  a  Jew,  and 
brought  up  among  Jews  ;  but  not  a  trace  of  Jewish  prejudice, 
bigotry,  or  narrowness  can  be  discovered  in  all  his  words  and 
actions.  His  birth  and  education  were  in  the  East,  but  there 
is  nothing  peculiarly  Oriental  in  his  ideas  or  instructions.  He 
spoke  the  language  of  Judaea ;  but  he  spoke  to  the  hearts  of 
men  in  all  nations  and  ages. 

He  was  emphatically  the  Son  of  fnan ;  not  of  one  man 
nor  another ;  not  of  one  nation  rather  than  another ;  not  of 
one  age  to  the  exclusion  of  other  ages,  —  but  of  man  univer- 
sal. We  do  not  even  conceive  of  the  human  nature  and 
character  of  Christ  as  limited  and  narrowed  by  the  distinction 
of  sex.  As  the  traditional  face  of  Christ,  which  we  see  so 
often  in  paintings,  combines  the  dignity  and  strength  of  one 
sex  with  the  beauty  and  loveliness  of  the  other,  so  his  nature 
unites  the  susceptibilities,  virtues,  and  graces  of  both. 

As  in  the  Christian  Church,  so  in  Christ  himself,  though 


o 


88  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 


in  a  different  sense,  there  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek,  barbarian 
nor  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  male  nor  female;  but  all  com- 
bined in  one  comprehensive,  harmonious,  and  perfect  whole. 

Christ,  as  man,  exhibited  the  human  virtues  without  imper- 
fection or  alloy  ;  and  man,  when  he  becomes  a  Christian,  is 
not  expected  or  desired  to  dehumanize  himself,  but  only  to 
restore  and  perfect  that  portion  of  humanity  which  he  has  in 
him.  And  this  can  be  accomplished  only  by  being  and  doing 
just  what  Christ  would  be  and  do  in  like  circumstances.  We 
are  not  commanded  to  practise  any  superhuman  virtues,  Man 
has  actually  been  and  done  all  that  we  are  commanded  to  be 
and  do,  and  that,  too,  in  circumstances  essentially  like  our 
own.  He  was  every  human  virtue  embodied  in  the  human 
form  and  exhibited  in  our  fallen,  sinful  world. 

The  patience  of  Job,  the  faith  of  Abraham,  the  prayer  of 
Jacob,  the  obedience  of  David,  the  courage  of  Elijah,  the 
fortitude  of  Daniel,  the  seraphic  joy  of  Isaiah  and  the  sympa- 
thetic tenderness  of  Jeremiah,  the  zeal  of  Peter  and  the  love 
of  John,  the  believing  works  of  James  and  the  working  faith 
and  heroism  of  Paul ;  all  the  active,  aggressive,  energetic, 
and  heroic  virtues  of  man  ;  all  the  meek,  gentle,  loving,  and 
suffering  graces  of  woman ;  and  all  the  humble,  truthful, 
affectionate,  and  obedient  spirit  of  the  little  child.  —  all,  and 
more  than  all,  these  virtues  met  in  him,  without  any  of  the  ex- 
cesses into  which  they  are  prone  to  run,  without  any  of  the 
defects  which  attend  them  in  other  men,  each  so  complete  in 
itself,  and  all  so  tempered  and  combined,  as  to  form  a  perfect 
whole.  And  yet,  so  far  from  dazzling  and  confounding  us 
with  the  idea  that  this  is  superhuman  excellence,  which  it  is 
vain  and  almost  impious  for  ordinary  mortals  to  attempt  to 
imitate,  we  feel  all  the  time  that  it  is  human  virtue,  the  very 
excellence  which  we  were  made  to  aspire  after,  and,  in  kind. 
to  reach  ;  nay,  more,  that  he  exemplified  all  the  virtues  before 
our  eyes  lor  the  vary  piirpose  of  proving  their  practicability, 
and  teaching  and  encouraging  us,  in  his  presence  and  in 
reliance  on  his  aid,  to  practise  them. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  389 

"The  Son  of  man"  was  a  perfect  pattern  of  what  man 
should  be  in  his  relations  to  his  fellow-man,  loving-  his 
neighbor  as  himself,  doing  unto  others  all  things  whatsoever 
he  would  that  they  should  do  unto  him.  and  even  going 
beyond  the  strict  requirements  of  the  Golden  Rule  in  volun- 
tary self-denial  and  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  men.  At  the 
same  time  he  was  a  model  man  in  his  relations  to  God.  The 
will  of  God  was  his  will :  he  did  always  those  things  which 
pleased  his  Father  which  is  in  heaven.  The  glory  of  God 
was,  in  his  daily  consciousness  and  his  habitual  choice,  the  end 
of  his  being.  He  lived  in  habitual  communion  with  God  ; 
and  even  his  personal  union  with  the  Father  was  the  most 
perfect  image  of  the  true  life  of  man,  which  is  life  in  Christ 
and  life  in  God. 

Man  attains  to  the  dignity  and  perfection  of  his  nature  only 
when,  like  Christ,  he  is  not  only  the  son  of  man,  but  the  son 
of  God  also.  Godliness  is  true  manliness,  and  perfect  manli- 
ness is  godliness.  Godliness  and  manliness  in  their  perfection 
cannot  be  separated.  They  are  seen  together,  seen  in  their 
perfection,  and  seen  to  be  one,  in  the  life  and  character  of 
Christ. 


F.   C.    COOK. 

[Modern  Scepticism.     New  York:  1871.     Pp.  474,  475,  477,  478.] 

Here  let  me  speak  out  frankly  my  own  opinion.  The 
whole  result  of  inquiry  into  the  truth  of  Christianity  will 
depend  upon  the  effect  produced  upon  you  by  the  personality 
of  Jesus  Christ.  If  a  careful  study  of  his  words,  of  his  works, 
does  not  constrain  you  to  recognize  in  him  a  divine  teacher, 
if  it  does  not  lead  you  to  discern  the  being  in  whom  alone 
humanity  attained  to  that  ideal  perfection  of  which  philoso- 
phers had  ever  dreamed,  but  of  which  they  dreamed  that  the 
realization  was  impossible  ;  nay,  more,  a  being  in  whom  the 
moral  and  spiritual  attributes  of  deity,  perfect  holiness,  and 
perfect  love  were   manifested, — then  indeed  1  admit,  nay  I 


390  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

am  in  truth  convinced,  that  no  other  evidences  will  have  any 
real  or  permanent  effects  upon  your  spirit.  The  complete- 
ness of  those  evidences  may  fill  your  minds  with  anxious 
questionings  ;  their  adequacy  may  leave  you  without  excuse 
for  their  rejection  :  but  without  influence  they  will  also  leave 
you  cold,  and  in  a  position,  if  not  of  outward  antagonism,  yet 
of  inward  alienation. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  accept  Jesus  as  your  teacher 
and  master,  simply  and  wholly  because  he  has  won  your 
heart  and  conquered  your  spirit,  then  all  other  evidences 
will  fall  into  their  proper  places ;  they  will  not  be  set  aside, 
contemned,  or  neglected,  but  they  will  be  used  as  subsidiary 
and  supplementary,  enabling  you  to  give  a  reason  for  the 
faith  which  is  in  you,  both  for  your  own  satisfaction,  and  for 
the  defence  and  advancement  of  Christian  truth.  The  one 
great  evidence,  the  master  evidence,  the  evidence  with  which 
all  other  evidences  will  stand  or  fall,  is  Christ  himself  speaking 
by  his  own  words  and  life. 

No  healthy  moral  nature  ever  came  into  contact  with  that 
personality  without  recognizing  its  unapproached  and  unap- 
proachable excellence.  Nay,  I  will  add,  no  human  heart, 
susceptible  of  tender  or  noble  emotions,  ever  fixed  its  gaze 
upon  Jesus  without  acknowledging  in  him  the  embodiment 
of  love.  Attestations  to  this  effect  mieht  be  adduced  in 
abundance  from  writings  of  men  who  have  passed  their  lives 
in  ineffectual  efforts  to  extricate  themselves  from  the  perplex- 
ity arising  from  their  inability  to  reconcile  that  impression 
with  their  intellectual  system ;  but  we  need  no  testimony 
from  without. 

Go  to  Christ,  hear  him  speak,  watch  his  actions,  and  you 
will  have  an  evidence  at  once  complete  and  adequate,  that  in 
him  was  a  human  nature,  which  in  its  entire  freedom  from 
all  moral  evil,  and  in  its  perfect  development  of  all  moral 
goodn(.'ss,  stands  absolutely  alone. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  391 


D.    W.    SIMON. 

[Historical  Influence  of  the  Death  of  Christ.     Hibliotheca  Sacra,  vol.  xxv. 

PP-  753'  755-757-] 

The  death  of  Christ  constitutes  from  this  time  onwards 
(A.D.  323)  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  Hfe  of 
civilized  humanity.  Its  history  is,  to  no  small  extent,  the 
history  of  what  is  profoundest  in  human  thought,  what  is 
purest  in  human  feeling,  what  is  noblest  in  human  endeavor, 
what  is  loftiest  in  human  self-sacrifice  ;  nay,  more,  we  might 
add,  of  what  is  best  in  human  life,  whether  in  the  family,  the 
society,  or  the  state.   .   .   . 

Never  did  the  crucifixion  on  Calvary,  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
attract  more  thought  and  speculation  than  it  does  at  this 
present  moment.  So  much  for  its  position  in  the  history  of 
human  thought,  —  a  thousand  times  tabooed  as  a  problem 
beneath  the  notice  of  philosophic  minds,  and  a  thousand  times 
imperiously  claiming  the  most  concentrated  attention  of  the 
simplest  and  the  profoundest. 

But,  besides  engaging  the  intelligence  of  man,  it  has  also 
awakened  in  him  feelings,  stirred  him  to  efforts,  and  manned 
him  to  self-sacrifice  as  pure,  as  high,  as  lofty  —  we  should  be 
justified  in  saying  immeasurably  purer,  higher,  and  loftier,  than 
any  recorded  on  the  whole  page  of  human  history.  What 
was  it  that  led  to  the  establishment  of  hundreds  of  monas- 
teries, convents,  and  similar  institutions,  which,  whatever  they 
may  have  been  in  the  days  of  their  degeneracy,  were  founded 
by  men  of  the  purest  zeal  for  their  own  and  others'  welfare, 
and  were  for  generations  a  source  of  refining,  elevating,  and 
civilizing  influences  to  the  districts  around  them  ?  It  was  the 
cross.  What  was  it  that  drove  hundreds  of  the  best  men  of 
their  respective  generations  from  their  native  lands,  to  traverse 
pathless  wilds,  and  seek  out  unknown  and  barbarous  tribes 
for  the  purpose  of  saving  them  from  temporal  and  eternal 
ruin  ?     It  was  the  cross  in  their  hearts,  whose  image  they  often 


392  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

bore  in  their  hands.  What  gave  the  signal  for  the  movement 
of  those  immense  masses  of  men  of  all  classes  and  ages,  from 
all  parts  of  Europe,  on  Jerusalem,  during  the  eleventh,  twelfth, 
and  thirteenth  centuries,  to  the  Crusades,  which,  however  else 
you  may  judge  them,  must  be  confessed  to  have  been  rooted 
in  an  enthusiasm  such  as  the  world  had  never  before  witnessed? 
It  was  the  cross.  What  was  it  that  inspired  Italian  art,  at  the 
noblest  period  of  its  existence,  with  its  grandest  thoughts  and 
colors  and  forms  ?  Was  it  not  the  cross  ?  In  whose  honor 
were  raised  the  finest  monuments  of  the  most  spiritual  style 
of  architecture  that  human  genius  has  conceived  ?  Surely  the 
cross,  which  they  exhibit  in  their  form.  —  the  cross  which 
towers  aloft  upon  their  summit. 

Under  what  sign  arose  and  labored  the  numerous  orders 
and  associations  in  the  Middle  Ages,  —  cleric  and  laic,  civil  and 
military,  —  for  the  defence  of  the  Church  and  for  the  care  of 
the  sick  and  needy  ?  Under  the  sign  of  the  cross.  To  what 
do  the  tens  of  thousands  of  churches  whose  spires  adorn 
the  landscapes  of  Europe  and  America,  and  other  parts  of  the 
world,  owe  their  existence  ?  To  the  cross.  To  what  purpose 
are  devoted  the  vast  majority  of  the  benevolent  institutions 
which  exist  all  over  the  civilized  world  ?  To  the  preaching 
of  the  cross.  Whatever  may  be  said  to  the  contrary,  and 
however  many  defects  and  weaknesses  may  be  pointed  out 
in  its  bearers,  can  it  be  denied  that  the  message  of  the 
cross  is  at  the  present  moment  as  powerful  and  strong  as 
ever? 

Throughout  Christendom,  notwithstanding  that  many 
maintain  it  to  be  surfeited  of  the  cross,  wherever  that  cross  is 
held  up  distinctly,  simply,  faithfully,  it  never  fails  to  speak  to 
the  human  conscience,  heart,  and  will,  with  a  power  which, 
unexplained  as  it  may  be,  is  none  the  less  indubitably  great. 
And  the  victories  it  gained  over  the  heathenism  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  and  Egypt  and  Carthage,  during  the  early  years  of 
its  proclamation,  it  is  still  gaining,  and  likely  to  gain,  in  India, 
China,  Africa,  and  Polynesia. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  393 


JAMES    FREEMAN    CLARKE. 

[The  New  Theology.     Unitarian  Review,  October,  1878.     P.  403.] 

Nor  is  the  historic  Christ  outgrown.  He  will  still  be  the 
centre  of  the  new  theology,  as  he  is  the  central  figure  in  hu- 
man history.  In  him  men  will  see  God  manifest  in  the  flesh, 
recognize  the  identity  of  spirit  and  matter,  eternity  and  time, 
the  divine  and  human.  In  looking  at  him,  men  w411  continue 
to  see  the  God  who  was  atar  off  becoming  nigh  ;  and  he 
who  sees  him  will  always  see  the  Father. 

One  human  life  like  that  of  Jesus  lifts  the  world  forever 
to  a  higher  plane.  Jesus  has  brought  God  to  man,  and  lifted 
man  to  God.  Since  he  has  done  this,  all  minute  criticisms 
intending  to  discredit  the  integrity  of  his  character  become 
futile.  We  know  what  he  was,  b)'  what  he  has  done  ;  we 
know  what  he  is,  by  what  he  is  doing.  As  long  as  men  con- 
tinue to  come  to  God  through  him,  so  long  must  Jesus  be  the 
centre  of  the  religious  thought  of  the  world. 


JAMES    THOMPSON    BIXBY. 

[Christ   the    Life.     Monthly    Religious    Magazine,    Boston :    1873.     Vol.   xlix. 

pp.   126-128,   130.] 

"  I  AM  the  life,"  said  Christ.  It  was  not  what  he  did,  but 
what  he  was,  that  has  influenced  men.  He  came,  not  to 
organize,  but  to  inspire  ;  not  to  teach  truths  before  unper- 
ceived,  foreiofn  to  the  line  of  men's  thouo^hts,  but  to  eive 
vitality  and  force  and  clearness  to  those  universal  truths  which 
the  world  heretofore  had  caught  dim  and  transient  glimpses 
of.  The  light  was  already  in  the  world,  but  the  world  knew 
it  not.  The  Word  of  revealing  truth  had  already  come  to  its 
own.  but  its  own  had  received  it  not.  Christ  focussed  these 
scattered  rays,  and  made  them  a  glowing  point,  seen  of  all 
men.     Grant  that  the  truths  of  the  Gospel  have  been  enun- 


394  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

dated  outside  the  Gospel,  and  before  the  birth  of  Christ :  yet 
every  one  must  see  that  they  present  an  entirely  different 
aspect,  have  an  entirely  different  power,  in  the  one  place,  from 
what  they  do  in  the  other.  In  Talmud  and  Veda  they  are  as 
rou^h  diamonds,  hid  in  pits  of  dirt  and  stone.  In  the  Gospel 
they  are  gems,  cut  and  polished,  and  set  in  a  royal  diadem. 
In  Grecian,  or  Roman,  or  Chinese  philosophy,  they  are  abstract 
speculations,  theories,  ideals,  .with  a  fancy  cold  and  inert.  In 
the  Gospel  they  come  with  a  power  that  makes  them  realized  ; 
they  are  pointed  with  practicalness ;  they  burn  with  a  fire 
that  kindles  every  heart  they  strike.  They  are  as  different, 
practically,  from  their  Oriental  or  classic  prototypes,  as  the 
dramas  of  Shakspeare  from  the  old  chronicles  and  plays  which 
he  worked  over. 

I  feel  sure  that  all  the  great  truths  which  Jesus  proclaimed 
were  original  with  him.  .  .  .  See  how  he  transmutes  every 
thing  he  touches,  —  the  wild  flowers,  and  the  birds  of  the 
air,  the  weed  and  the  grain  ;  every  thing,  down  to  the  small 
grain  of  mustard-seed  and  to  homely  domestic  employments, 
—  the  making  of  bread,  the  patching  of  garments,  —  he 
makes  serve  his  great  purpose.  The  sudden  interruptions, 
the  dilemmas  of  opponents,  the  plots  of  foes,  he  so  turns  to 
his  service,  that  they  almost  seem  to  be  in  collusion  with  him. 
The  great  truths  which  had  been  lying  in  the  world,  dormant 
and  nerveless,  he  took  to  his  bosom,  and  warmed  them  in  the 
fire  of  his  heart ;  and  they  issued  thonce  again  full  of  life  and 
effectiveness,  so  transformed  that  the  world  long  thought  them 
his  new  and  peculiar  discovery. 

The  fishermen  and  the  publicans  and  peasants  whom  he 
made  his  followers  —  men  who,  had  it  not  been  for  their  con- 
nection with  Jesus,  would  have  gone  on  in  the  old,  narrow, 
unassuming  round  of  life,  timid,  illiterate,  unenergetic,  buried 
in  self — under  the  influence  of  one  year's  short  contact  with 
the  Master,  go  forth  charged  with  enthusiasm,  bold,  untiring, 
ready  for  martyrdom,  handing  down  to  after  generations  grand 
words  of  wisdom  and  spirituality.     The  Saul  who  came  down 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  395 

to  Damascus  breathing  out  fury  and  curses,  the  narrowest 
and  most  bigoted  of  Pharisees,  becomes,  under  the  guiding 
of  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,  the  Apostle  to  ^ the  Gentiles,  the 
champion  of  liberty  and  chanty,  the  eloquent  preacher  and 
practiser  of  love.  Here  is  something  greater  than  the  dis- 
covery of  new  truths.  For,  more  than  to  find  out  a  new 
principle,  is  it  to  take  the  old  ones  that  the  world  has  handled, 
and  turned  over  and  over,  and  made  nothing  of,  and  so  put 
them  together  that  each  useless  part,  rightly  jointed  with  its 
neighbor,  gives  and  receives  new  strength,  and  forms  a  new 
and  unique  whole.  Greater  than  to  show  the  good,  is  it  to 
awaken  in  the  soul  the  desire  that  will  not  be  satisfied  without 
it.  Greater  than  the  adjusting  of  parts  and  means  is  the  life 
that  communicates  its  own  vital  energy. 

Thus  was  Jesus  the  life  in  his  day  and  generation,  and  he 
is  still  the  life  to  the  individual  and  the  society.  He  shows 
us  what  we  ought  to  be,  what  we  can  be,  what  we  shall  be. 
His  life  was  lived  so  truly,  his  character  so  rounded  out  on  all 
sides,  that  he  has  become  the  model  for  humanity,  the  type 
of  complete  manhood.  There  met  in  him  the  boldness  of  the 
prophet  and  the  gentleness  of  the  saint.  Masculine  strength 
and  feminine  tenderness  kissed  each  other.  The  patriot's 
devotion  to  his  country  was  married  to  the  breadth  of  view 
that  could  take  the  foreigner  as  a  neighbor  to  be  loved  as 
one's  self. 

Such  things  as  the  hospitals,  the  asylums  for  the  aged,  the 
infirm,  the  blind,  the  deaf,  and  the  lunatic,  were  unknown  in 
Greece  and  Rome.  Such  a  thing  as  one  nation  sending  to 
another  gifts  of  money  and  provision  to  succor  it  in  its  dis- 
tress, as  occurs  now  whenever  a  war  or  a  famine  or  an 
epidemic  desolates  a  neighboring  countr}',  would  have  been 
to  a  Greek  or  a  Roman  an  incredible  thing. 

These  numberless  and  manifold  charities,  this  spirit  of 
peace  and  brotherly  good  -  will,  which  all  nations  always 
acknowledge  now  as  the  rule  of  their  duty,  we  owe  to  Christ. 
He  was  our  Teacher  of  the  brotherhood  of  man  and  love  to 


396  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

all  our  kind.  Where  freedom  and  progress  are,  there  is 
shown  his  influence. 

It  was  his  spirit  that  forbade  men  to  make  an  amusement 
of  the  mortal  combats  of  their  fellows,  or  to  hold  their  brother 
as  a  chattel.  It  was  his  spirit  that  took  the  knight's  free 
lance,  and  baptized  it  into  Christian  ser\'ice,  into  deeds  of 
gallant  succor  and  chivalric  redress.  In  ever)-  effort  after 
social  amelioration,  in  every  humane  enterprise,  in  ever)'  civil, 
industrial,  or  educational  reform,  is  seen  the  reflection  of  that 
life  which  was  spent  in  going  about  doing  good. 

In  the  practical  turn  which  religion  is  more  and  more 
assuming,  in  the  gentler,  kinder,  and  more  peaceful  air  which 
is  settling  over  the  face  of  society,  in  the  greater  and  greater 
demand  for  love  and  sweetness  and  holiness  in  ever)'  charac- 
ter that  demands  our  reverence,  we  see  the  unmistakable 
influence  of  Christ's  life. 


GEORGE   MATHESON. 

[ORioiNALrTY  OF  THE  CHARACTER  OF  Christ.     Contemporary  Review,  November,  1878. 

Pp-  759-763.  773-775-1 

There  is  not  only  a  Gospel  and  a  Gospel  history  to  be 
accounted  for :  behind  both  there  is  a  Gospel  portraiture,  and 
a  portraiture  without  which  neither  the  outward  acts  nor 
the  written  record  could  ever  have  found  a  place  in  human 
thought.  Could  we  satisfactorily  explain  on  purely  human 
principles  the  origin  of  the  evangelic  manuscripts  ;  could  we 
.satisfactorily  account,  on  purely  natural  grounds,  for  the  suc- 
cessful propagation  of  the  facts  which  these  narratives  record, 
—  we  should  still  be  confronted  by  a  more  formidable  antag- 
onist than  all  in  the  existence  of  the  character  of  Christ. 

We  do  not  here  contend  that  this  existence  was  actually 
lived  ;  we  do  not  assume  that  the  character  attributed  to  the 
founder  of  Christianity  was  in  veritable  form  seen  amongst 
uKm  :   to  do  so  would  be  to  beg   the   whole   question.     We 


rO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  397 

take  our  stand  upon  an  undoubted  fact,  —  a  tact  admitted  by 
all  schools  of  thought,  orthodox  and  heterodox,  supernatural 
and  mythical,  —  that  there  is  before  our  eyes  the  delineation 
of  a  moral  character  which  professes  to  embody  the  essence  of 
the  Christian  life.  We  have  here  the  portraiture  ;  whether 
it  be  the  ideal  portraiture,  or  the  description  of  an  actual  life, 
is  not  here  the  question  :  the  sole  question  is,  To  what  does 
this  portraiture  amount?  Is  it  reducible  to  the  natural  yearn- 
ings of  heathendom  ?  Is  it  the  flower  of  human  speculation  ? 
Is  it  the  latest  fruit  of  the  Pagan  tree  ?  If  so,  it  becomes 
only  another  argument  for  the  mythical  theory.  But  if,  on 
the  other  hand,  it  should  be  found  to  be  an  original  portrait- 
ure ;  if  on  examination  it  should  be  found  to  transcend  alike 
the  Jewish  and  the  heathen  yearning ;  if  it  should  be  recog- 
nized to  contain  an  element  for  which  there  was  no  prepara- 
tion in  the  pre-Christian  world,  —  its  existence  must  furnish 
a  strong  presumption  against  the  very  basis  of  that  theory. 
Such  is  the  question  we  intend  to  consider.  We  assume 
nothing.  We  use  no  materials  which  the  mythicist  himself 
would  not  admit  to  be  legitimate.  We  do  not  take  for 
granted  that  the  Founder  of  Christianity  ever  existed.  We 
do  not  take  for  granted  that  the  records  of  his  existence  are 
either  authentic  or  genuine.  We  simply  recognize  the  fact 
that  there  is  a  narrative  before  us,  and  that  in  this  narrative 
there  is  delineated  the  portrait  of  a  life.  We  address  our- 
selves solely  and  entirely  to  the  examination  of  that  portrait. 
We  consider  not  whence  it  came.  We  inquire  not  who 
painted  it.  We  only  ask  whether  it  was  painted  in  old  or 
in  new  colors  ;  and,  according  to  our  answer  of  that  question, 
we  seek  to  estimate  the  force  of  the  mythical  theory.   .  .   . 

The  life  of  Christ,  as  recorded  in  the  Evangelists,  is  a 
life  which  reaches  its  perfection  by  the  assimilating  of  contrary 
elements.  .  .  .  We  have  that  rare  capacity  of  moral  sympathy 
which  can  at  once  turn  aside  from  rejoicing  with  the  joyful, 
to  find  an  equal  power  in  sorrowing  with  the  sad.  We  have 
that  vast  outlook  which  can  contemplate  the  end  of  all  things. 


39^  TESTIMONY   OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

immediately  succeeded  by  that  minute  particularity  which 
dictates  the  precepts  for  the  hour.  We  have  the  life  which  at 
one  moment  seems  at  home  amid  the  crowd,  and  which  the 
next  appears  to  have  reached  its  ideal  in  solitude. 

He  is  boundlessly  tolerant.  He  forbids  not  the  good 
work  of  those  who  are  working  from  an  inferior  motive  to 
that  of  his  personal  service.  Yet  he  displays  something 
which  in  such  minds  was  rarely  to  be  found,  —  a  tolerance 
even  for  intolerance.  He  will  not  suffer  the  fire  from  heaven 
to  descend  upon  that  village  of  Samaria,  which,  through  the 
force  of  religious  bigotry,  has  closed  its  gates  against  him. 
He  is  pervaded  with  the  love  of  purity,  yet  he  claims  a  special 
power  of  extending  forgiveness  to  the  impure,  and  exemplifies 
that  power  in  a  series  of  instances  whose  consistency  is  never 
broken. 

The  conception,  in  short,  which  the  delineation  of  Christ's 
character  introduced  into  the  world,  is  that  idea  which  Paul 
felicitously  expressed  in  the  words,  "  He  that  is  spiritual 
judgeth  all  things."  It  is  the  conception  of  a  spirituality 
which,  just  because  it  is  the  highest  type  of  life,  comprehends 
within  itself  all  the  lower  forms  of  existence  ;  which,  because 
it  is  sacred,  includes  all  the  secular,  and,  because  it  is  high, 
stretches  down  to  the  minute  and  lowly.  This,  we  say,  is 
the  thought  which  the  delineation  of  Christ's  portraiture  has 
presented  to  the  world,  and  which  has  long  since  become  the 
world's  possession.  Yet  we  must  not  forget  that  this  thought 
was  not  always  commonplace  ;  least  of  all  must  we  forget 
that  it  was  foreign  to  the  nation  that  produced  it.  It  was.  of 
all  other  thoughts,  that  most  remote  from  the  Jewish  mind ; 
and  when  the  Jewish  mind  beheld  it,  it  beheld  it  with  aver- 
sion and  loathing.  Even  the  recorders  of  the  evangelical 
narratives  give  indications  that  they  are  depicting  a  portrait, 
the  full  beauty  of  whose  expression  they  do  not  as  yet  see. 

No  one  will  suspect  Mr.  Matthew  Arnold  and  Mr.  Stuart 
Mill  'of  an  undue  prcxlilcction  for  dogmatic  Christianity,  yet 
both  have  recorded  in  the  strongest  terms  their  conviction  that 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARRTH.  399 

the  portrait  of  the  Master  was  above  its  Jewish  dehneators. 
Strauss  himself  seems  latterly  to  have  had  this  truth  forced 
upon  him.  In  his  later  life  of  Jesus,  intended  for  the  German 
people,  he  appears  to  have  found  that  the  character  of  the 
Founder  himself  was  precisely  that  element  which  could  not 
be  resolved  into  the  legendary  expectations  of  the  Jewish 
nation  ;  and  therefore  he  is  forced  to  seek  for  that  character 
a  source  outside  of  Judaism. 

Judaism,  in  the  judgment  of  the  mythical  theory  itself, 
has  been  pronounced  to  be  inadequate  to  account  for  the 
creation  of  a  Christian  portraiture,  and  the  mythical  theory 
has  fallen  back  on  the  support  of  the  Gentile  element.  But 
is  the  Gentile  element  more  adequate  than  the  Jewish?  Does 
the  portrait  of  Christ  as  we  now  behold  it  show  any  real 
analogy  to  the  aspirations  of  heathendom  ?  The  heroes  of 
all  nations,  as  embodied  in  their  works  of  fiction,  will  be 
found  to  be  simply  the  expression  of  the  national  ideal.  Is 
the  portrait  of  Christ  the  expression  of  the  heathen  ideal  ? 
That  is  the  question  to  which  the  subject  narrows  itself.   .   .   . 

Christ  felt,  and  felt  truly,  that  any  empire  which,  like  the 
Jewish  and  the  Roman,  claimed  to  be  theocratic,  could  only  be 
made  permanent  by  ruling  from  within  ;  that  nothing  could 
be  called  a  sacred  sovereignty  which  did  not  directly  influence 
the  mind.  He  felt  that  the  ultimate  seat  of  regal  authority 
lay  in  the  heart  of  a  people  ;  that  the  heart  could  only  be 
won  by  love ;  and  that  love  could  only  be  manifested  by 
sacrifice.  It  was  from  this  thoug-ht,  or  train  of  thouo-ht,  that 
there  emerged  the  great  Christian  paradox,  "  He  that  is  least 
shall  be  greatest." 

To  be  a  king  in  the  most  absolute  sense,  was  to  be  a 
ruler  over  the  heart ;  to  be  a  ruler  over  the  heart,  it  was  first 
necessary  that  the  sovereign  should  be  a  subject.  He  who 
would  win  the  love  of  others,  must  first  be  dominated  by  the 
love  of  others  ;  captivity  must  precede  captivation.  Inspired 
by  this  deep  principle  of  morality,  the  Master  conceived  the 
grand  design  of  establishing  a  kingdom  that  could  never  be 


400  TRSriMONV   OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

moved,  —  a  kingdom,  not  based  upon  the  physical  power 
which  was  perishable  ;  nor  even  on  the  intellectual  Platonic 
power,  which  could  only  exist  through  the  ignorance  of  the 
many ;  but  on  a  power  whose  foundation  was  the  noblest 
element  of  humanity  itself,  —  the  capacity  for  love.  He  pro- 
posed to  conquer  the  heart  of  the  world,  and  to  conquer  it 
by  the  exhibition  of  his  own  heart. 

The  founders  of  previous  kingdoms  had  sought  to  rule  by 
placing  in  the  foreground  the  display  of  their  personal  superi- 
ority ;  the  Flounder  of  Christianity  resolved  to  subjugate  man- 
kind by  the  sacrifice  of  himself.  The  kings  of  former  times 
had  fought  their  way  to  empire  by  shedding  the  blood  of 
their  enemies ;  the  aspirant  to  this  new  kingdom  determined 
to  secure  dominion  by  shedding  his  own. 

An  aim  so  strange,  a  plan  so  paradoxical,  would  alone 
have  been  sufficient  to  mark  out  Christianity  from  all  other 
forms  of  faith;  but  to  this  must  be  added  another  element 
which  heightens  the  strangeness  and  completes  the  contrast. 

It  is  now  an  historic  fact,  that  the  Founder  of  Christianity 
has  succeeded  in  his  aim  ;  whatever  be  mythical,  there  is  no 
mythology  here.  There  is  at  this  hour  in  the  world  the 
nucleus  of  such  a  kinofdom  as  Christ  desired  to  found.  We 
mean  not  the  kingdom  of  the  Roman  hierarchy,  or  the  king- 
dom of  the  Anglican  Church,  or  the  kingdom  of  the  Presby- 
terian worship,  but  that  which  at  once  overlies  and  overlaps 
them  all,  —  the  loyalty  of  a  multitude  of  souls  to  him  who 
is  their  ideal  of  perfection.  For,  let  it  be  remembered  that 
Christianity  is  not  primarily,  nor  even  chiefly,  a  collection  of 
moral  precepts  intended  for  the  guidance  of  human  life.  If 
that  were  all,  it  would  be  easy  to  find  occasional  parallels 
between  the  maxims  of  Jesus,  and  the  maxims  of  Buddha 
or  Confucius  or  Lao-tze. 

But  Christianity  is  what  Buddhism,  Confucianism  and 
Taoism  are  not,  —  the  membership  in  a  kingdom,  and  the 
loyalty  to  a  King.  It  contemplates,  in  the  first  instance,  not 
the  special   sayings  of  its   Founder,   nor  yet  the  sum  of  his 


THE   TRANSFIGURATION. 


I 


e      •      CO 
•  •        t 


7'0  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  40 1 

united  teaching ;  it  contemplates  the  Founder  himself,  and 
fixes  its  eye  on  him  alone. 

Christianity  includes  all  the  precepts  of  morality;  but  all 
the  precepts  of  morality  united  are  not  the  essence  of  the 
Christian  faith,  and  simply  for  this  reason,  —  that  the  Chris- 
tian religion  is  a  faith.  It  is  the  subjection  of  the  heart  to  an 
ideal  whom  it  adores,  the  captivation  of  the  eye  by  a  portrait 
in  which  it  revels,  the  conquest  of  the  will  by  a  law  which  it 
loves.  Christianity  in  its  deepest  nature  is  an  aesthetic  belief, 
the  vision  of  a  beautiful  life,  and  the  conviction  that  this 
beauty  has  become  by  its  union  with  humanity  the  atonement 
for  human  deformity. 

There  is  within  this  world  an  actual  existing  kingdom  of 
Christ,  the  hearts  of  whose  subjects  are  ever  bowing  down 
before  him  ;  and  amidst  all  the  changes  in  the  systems  of 
human  government,  amidst  all  the  transmutations  in  the 
aspects  of  theological  thought,  this  great  ideal  has  found  no 
diminution  in  its  power  and  reign.  The  question  is.  Does  the 
ideal  represent  a  reality  ?  And  the  answer  to  that  question 
depends  on  the  answer  to  another.  Has  the  ideal  of  Chris- 
tendom sprung  from  a  reality?  has  it  grown  out  of  the  natural 
instincts  of  the  human  mind?  or  does  it  involve  something 
which  the  human  mind  has  displayed  no  ability  to  create  ? 
That  is  the  question  which  we  have  been  endeavoring  to 
answer,  and  we  seem  to  have  arrived  at  the  only  possible 
answer. 

If  we  find  Judaea  reaping  where  she  has  not  sown,  and 
gathering  where  she  has  not  strown  ;  if  we  see  her  the  birth- 
place of  an  idea  which  surpassed  her  power  of  origination, 
and  when  originated  surpassed  her  power  of  comprehension  ; 
if,  in  her  contact  with  Gentile  nations,  we  fail  to  discover  any 
germs  from  which  that  idea  could  have  naturally  sprung  ;  if 
we  find  it  in  essence  and  in  portraiture  directly  at  variance  with 
all  heathen  aspirations,  reversing  the  world's  ideal  of  physical 
strength,  transforming  its  estimate  of  mental  power,  casting 
into  the  shade  its  conception  of  aesthetic  culture,  and  placing 


402  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

on  a  contrary  basis  its  hope  of  a  theocratic  kingdom  ;  if  we 
find  it  introducing  a  new  standard  of  heroism,  which  caused 
every  valley  to  be  exalted,  and  every  mountain  to  be  made 
low  ;  and  if,  above  all.  we  perceive  that  when  that  standard 
of  heroism  rose  upon  the  world,  it  rose  upon  a  foreign  soil, 
which  received  it  as  an  alien  and  an  adversary,  —  are  we  not 
driven  to  ask  if  even  on  the  lowest  computation  we  have 
not  reached  the  evidence  of  a  new  life  in  humanity,  the  out- 
pouring of  a  fresh  vitality,  and  the  manifestation  of  a  higher 
power  ? 


I 


JOHN   LOCKE. 

[The  Evidences  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion.     London:  1785.     P.  243.] 

Besides  the  great  excellency  and  reasonableness  of  the 
doctrine  considered  in  itself,  of  which  I  have  already  treated, 
it  is  here  of  no  small  moment  to  observe  that  the  Author  of 
it  —  separate  from  all  external  proof  of  his  divine  commission 
—  appeared,  in  all  his  behavior,  words,  and  actions,  to  be 
neither  an  impostor  nor  an  enthusiast.  His  life  was  innocent 
and  spotless,  spent  entirely  in  serving  the  ends  of  holiness 
and  charity,  in  doing  good  to  the  souls  and  bodies  of  men,  in 
exhorting  them  to  repentance,  and  inviting  them  to  serve  and 
glorify  God. 

When  his  bitterest  enemies  accused  him  in  order  to  take 
away  his  life,  they  could  not  charge  him  with  any  appearance 
of  vice  or  immorality.  And  so  far  was  he  from  being  guilty  of 
what  they  did  charge  him  with,  —  namely,  of  vainglory,  and 
attempting  to  move  sedition,  —  that  once,  when  the  admiring- 
people  would  by  force  have  taken  him  and  made  him  their 
king,  he  chose  even  to  work  a  miracle  to  avoid  that  which 
was  the  only  thing  that  could  be  imagined  to  have  been  the 
design  of  an  impostor. 

In  like  manner,  whoever  seriously  considers  the  answers 
he  gave  to  all  (juestions,  whether  moral  or  captious,  his  occa- 
sional discourses  with   his  disciples,   and   more  especially  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  403 

wisdom  and  excellency  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  which  is, 
as  it  were,  the  system  and  summary  of  his  doctrine,  manifestly 
surpassing  all  the  moral  instructions  of  the  most  celebrated 
philosophers  that  ever  lived,  cannot,  without  the  extremest 
malice  and  obstinacy  in  the  world,  charge  him  with  enthu- 
siasm. 


ARTHUR   T.    PIERSON. 

[Many  Infallible  Proofs.     Chicago:  1886.     Pp.  216,  225,  228.] 

We  notice  about  Jesus  no  narrow  limits  of  individuality. 
James  Watt  suggests  the  inventor ;  Benjamin  West,  the 
painter ;  Napoleon,  the  warrior ;  Columbus,  the  uisccverar : 
Pitt,  the  statesman.  Men  of  mark  stand  out  from  the  mass 
with  sharp  individual  traits,  as,  in  the  apostolic  company,  we 
think  of  Peter's  impetuosity,  Paul's  energy,  John's  love  ;  and 
these  traits  both  distinguish  and  separate  certain  men  from 
others. 

But  Christ's  peculiarities  did  not  isolate  him  from  other 
men.  Nothing  stands  out  so  prominently  as  to  draw  some  to 
him  from  a  sense  of  sympathy  and  similarity,  and  drive  others 
from  him  by  a  feeling  of  natural  antagonism.  He  is  not  so 
allied  to  any  particular  temperament  as  to  impress  others  with 
a  lack  of  power  to  understand  their  individual  cast  of  character. 

Yet  there  is  no  lack  of  positiveness  in  this  perfect  man,  like 
a  coat  fitting  everybody  yet  fitting  nobody ;  no  such  elasticity 
of  character  as  stretches  or  contracts  to  suit  every  new  de- 
mand ;  but  such  a  common  fitness  as  tells  of  something  in 
common  with  every  man,  —  a  beautiful  fulfilment  of  the  scrip- 
tural figure  that  "as  in  water  face  answereth  to  face,  so  the 
heart  of  man  to  man."  Any  man,  whatever  his  tastes  or 
temperament,  his  type  of  mind  or  heart  or  disposition,  finds 
in  Jesus  something  answering  to  his  need, —  a  sympathizing 
brother.   .   .   . 

When  we  endeavor  to  picture  him  to  ourselves,  no  beauty 
of  face,  form,  figure,  can  do  justice  to  his  perfection.     Put  the 


404  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

"  brow  of  Jupiter  on  the  form  of  Apollo,"  and  you  have  not 
approached  the  beauty  with  which  imagination  invests  his 
person.  Give  him  "  Luther's  electrical  smile,  opening  the 
window  in  a  great  soul,"  and  you  have  nothing  yet  to  express 
the  divine  charm  of  his  winning  grace,  which,  notwithstanding 
his  majesty,  drew  little  children  to  his  arms.  Give  him  the 
wisdom  of  Solomon,  and  the  profoundness  of  Aristotle,  and  the 
originality  of  Bacon,  and  all  this  cannot  explain  the  words  of 
him  who,  by  the  confession  of  his  enemies,  spake  as  never 
man  spake,  and  who,  in  dealing  with  truths  the  most  sublime, 
never  forgot  to  be  simple,  even  in  the  forms  of  his  illustrations. 

Here  is  the  ideal  of  manhood,  in  mind  as  well  as  body. 
What  thoughts,  inspiring  what  words  and  works  !  What  sub- 
lime conceptions,  convincing  argument,  wise  counsel,  powerful 
persuasion,  perfect  illustration,  grand  discrimination  ! 

What  a  heart, — so  pure,  so  noble!  Was  ever  love  so 
charming  in  its  fervor,  its  sincerity,  constancy,  generosity,  un- 
selfishness ?  Nothing  but  a  look  of  gentle  reproach  for  the 
disciple  who  denied  him,  and  no  word  of  bitterness  even  for 
the  apostle  who  with  a  kiss  betrayed  him.  He  left  all  ideals 
behind  in  his  reality.  We  think  no  more  of  the  Roman  no- 
tion of  heroic  virtue,  the  Greek  notion  of  culture,  the  Italian 
idea  of  beauty :  in  presence  of  Jesus,  all  these  fade,  as  stars 
grow  pale  at  morning.  .   .  . 

When  we  study  the  marvellous  history  of  those  thirty-three 
years,  we  stand  in  presence  of  the  most  significant  period  of 
all  history,  folding  in  its  bosom  the  most  precious  facts  ever 
cherished  in  the  heart  of  man.  The  existence  of  Jesus  Christ 
is  the  pivot  upon  which  turn  the  history  and  destiny  of  the 
world.  This  one  man,  born  in  poverty  and  bred  in  obscurity, 
who  could  call  no  spot  home,  and  no  great  man  his  friend, 
who  was  hated  by  the  influential  men  of  Church  and  State,  and 
died  as  a  criminal  by  their  united  verdict,  even  whose  tomb 
was  the  loan  of  charity,  —  this  one  man  somehow  sways  the 
world!  We  date  our  very  letters  and  papers,  not  "Anno 
Mundi,"  —  the    year  of  the  world;    but  "Anno  Domini,"  — 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  405 

the  year  of  our  Lord  ;  and  even  he  who,  from  his  dark  cham- 
ber of  doubt  and  disbehef,  sends  out  his  assauhs  upon  Jesus 
of  Nazareth,  still  dates  his  pen's  production  "  Anno  Domini," 
unwillingly  bowing  to  Christ's  Lordship,  even  of  the  world's 
calendar.  Even  creation  is  forgotten,  as  the  epoch  from  which 
all  is  to  be  reckoned,  since  that  babe  was  born  in  Bethlehem  of 
Judaea,  as  though  all  history  had  a  new  birth  then.  Kings  are 
anointed  in  his  name  ;  the  grandest  cathedrals  unfold  their 
white  blossoms  of  stone  to  bear  perpetual  witness  to  his  glory 
and  beauty.  Millions  of  believers  offer  him  the  myrrh  of  their 
penitence  for  sin,  the  frankincense  of  their  prayers  and  praise, 
the  gold  of  their  costliest  offerings  of  gratitude  and  service. 


^A^ILLIAM    ELLERY    CHANNING. 

[The  Perfect  Life.     Boston :   1876.] 

Our  great  privilege  as  Christians  is,  that  we  know  the 
MIND  and  CHARACTER  of  Jesus ;  and  these  were  brought  out  by 
the  condition  in  which  he  was  placed.  How  often  great  virtue 
is  hidden,  how  often  great  power  slumbers,  for  want  of  an 
appropriate  sphere,  for  want  of  the  trials  by  which  alone  true 
greatness  can  be  revealed!  Had  Jesus  been  born  under  a 
regal  roof,  rocked  in  the  cradle  of  ease,  and  surrounded  from 
birth  with  imposing  pomp,  he  might  have  lavished  gifts  with 
a  bountiful  hand,  but  the  omnipotence  of  his  love  would  never 
have  been  known  as  it  now  is.  He  would  have  encountered 
no  opposition  ;  and  therefore  his  chief  victories  —  the  victo- 
ries of  his  calm  courage,  of  his  unconquerable  philanthropy  — 
could  not  have  been  won.  How  entirely  he  gave  himself  up 
to  the  work  of  love,  we  should  not  have  conceived.  Jesus 
on  a  throne,  followed  at  every  step  by  obsequious  multitudes, 
hearing  no  sound  but  shouts  of  praise,  anticipated  in  every 
want,  obeyed  at  the  slightest  intimation  of  his  will,  might 
have  loved  us  as  earnestly  as  did  the  poor  and  persecuted 
Jesus.     But  who  could  have  looked  into  the  depths   of  his 


406  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

soul  ?  Who  could  have  measured  the  energy  of  his  goodness  ? 
Who  would  hav^e  comprehended  that  a  mind  of  a  7iew  order 
had  come  to  act  on  human  affairs  ? 

When  is  it  that  I  learn  to  know  and  feel  the  mind  of 
Jesus  ?  It  is  when  I  see  him  associating  with  the  ignorant 
and  the  lowly,  and  conforming  himself  to  their  lot.  that  he 
might  more  effectually  bring  great  truths  within  the  reach  of 
their  intelligence,  and  might  enrich  them  with  new  virtues 
and  hopes.  It  is  when  I  see  him  beset  with  foes,  spies,  and 
slanderers,  meeting,  wherever  he  looks,  the  malignant  eye, 
the  dark  frown,  the  whispered  taunt,  the  insulting  sneer,  and 
yet  giving  out  the  treasure  of  divine  truth  with  unaltered  con- 
stancy and  meekness.  It  is  when  I  see  him  betrayed  into  the 
hand  of  murderers,  and  recompensed  for  his  blameless  and 
beneficent  life  by  death  in  its  most  humbling  and  dreaded 
form,  and  yet  holding  fast  the  cause  of  mankind  which  God 
had  intrusted  to  him,  and  returning  their  curses  with  prayers 
for  their  forgiveness. 

At  such  seasons,  I  approach  the  mind  of  Jesus.  I  under- 
stand him.  And  so  much  do  I  prize  this  knowledge,  that  I 
rejoice  in  the  humble  birth  through  which  he  was  enabled  thus 
to  manifest  himself. 

To  this  comprehension  of  the  mind  and  character  of  Jesus 
Christ,  I  attach  infinite  importance.  To  me,  it  is  the  greatest 
good  received  from  him.  In  so  saying,  I  know  that  I  difter 
from  many  Christians,  who  rejoice  in  Christ's  birth  chiefly 
because  he  came,  as  they  think,  to  purchase  by  his  suffer- 
ings the  pardon  of  their  sins.  1  rejoice  in  his  birth,  chiefly 
because  he  came  to  reveal,  by  his  suffering,  his  celestial  love,  to 
lay  open  to  us  his  soul,  and  thus  to  regenerate  the  human  soul. 
To  regenerate  and  exalt  human  souls,  was  Christ's  ultimate 
aim.  And  by  what  means  could  he  more  effectually  have 
ministered  to  this  end,  than  by  manifesting,  as  he  did,  his  own 
excellence,  disinterestedness,  and  divine  love  ? 

This  seems  to  me  more  and  more  to  be  the  great  good 
which  we  derive  from  the  birth  of  Jesus.     His  inmost  spirit 


I 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  407 

was  thus  laid  open  to  us.  Nothing  has  wrought  so  powerfully 
on  the  human  soul  as  the  mind  and  character  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Among  all  means  of  civilization  and  improvement,  I  can  find 
nothing  to  be  compared  in  energy  with  this.  The  great 
impulse  which  is  to  carry  forward  the  human  race  is  the 
CHARACTER  of  Jesus,  Understood  ever  more  clearly,  and  ever 
more  deeply  felt.  And  consequently  I  rejoice  in  his  human 
and  humble  birth,  because  by  this  his  character  was  brought 
out.  Thus  was  he  revealed  as  the  express  image  of  divine 
perfection. 

And  here  I  cannot  but  admire  and  adore  the  wisdom  of 
Providence.  I  see  how,  by  means  most  unpromising  to  men's 
view,  the  greatest  purposes  of  Heaven  may  be  accomplished. 
Who  of  us,  on  visiting  the  manger  at  Bethlehem,  and  behold- 
ing an  infant  amidst  accommodations  provided  for  animals, 
would  not  have  seen  in  these  circumstances  the  presage  of  an 
obscure  lot  ?  and  yet  this  lowly  birth  was  the  portal  to  that 
glorious  though  brief  career  through  which  the  greatest  mind 
established  an  imperishable  sway  over  humanity.  In  that 
infant  the  passing  spectator  saw  only  the  heir  of  poverty,  and 
pitied  his  hard  fate  ;  and  yet,  before  that  infant  the  brightest 
names  of  history  have  grown  dim.  The  Caesar  whose  decree 
summoned  the  parents  of  Jesus  to  Bethlehem  is  known  to 
millions  only  through  the  record  of  that  infant's  life.  The 
sages  and  heroes  of  antiquity  are  receding  from  us.  and  his- 
tory contracts  the  record  of  their  deeds  into  a  narrow  and 
narrower  page.  But  time  has  no  power  over  the  name  and 
deeds  and  words  of  Jesus  Christ.  From  the  darkness  of  the 
past  they  shine  forth  with  sunlike  splendor 

Such  affection  does  his  peculiar  character  inspire,  that  to 
thousands  now  living  the  intervening  ages  since  his  advent 
seem  annihilated.  They  place  themselves  amidst  the  crowds 
who  followed  him  ;  they  hear  his  voice  ;  they  look  on  his  be- 
nignant countenance  ;  they  cherish  intimacy  with  him,  almost 
as  if  he  were  yet  on  earth. 

No  other  fame  can  be  compared  with  that  of  Jesus.     He 


408  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

has  a  place  in  the  human  heart  that  no  one  who  ever  lived  has 
in  any  measure  rivalled.  No  name  is  pronounced  with  a  tone 
of  such  love  and  veneration.  All  other  laurels  wither  before 
his.     His  are  kept  ever  fresh  with  tears  of  gratitude.   .   .   . 

I  affirm,  then,  that  the  efficacy  of  the  Christian  religion  lies 
chiefly  in  the  character  of  Jesus.  Christianity,  separated  from 
Jesus,  wanting  the  light  and  comment  of  his  character,  would 
have  done  comparatively  little  for  the  world.  Jesus,  with  his 
celestial  love,  is  the  Life  of  his  religion. 

The  truths  of  Christianity,  had  they  come  to  us  as  abstract 
principles,  would  have  been  comparatively  impotent.  I  might 
have  received  from  a  common  messenger  of  God  the  same 
precepts  which  fell  from  Jesus.  But  how  different  are  these 
precepts  in  quickening  power  when  coming  from  those  holy 
lips,  from  that  warm  and  noble  heart,  from  that  Friend  who 
loved  me  so  tenderly,  and  died  that  these  laws  of  life  might 
be  written  on  my  soul ! 

The  perfect  charity  that  Jesus  inculcates,  if  taught  by  a 
philosopher,  would  have  been  a  beautiful  speculation,  and 
might  have  hovered  before  me  as  a  bright  vision.  But  could 
I  have  that  faith  in  its  reality  which  I  now  possess,  as  I  see  it 
living  and  embodied  in  Jesus  ?  What  an  all-animating  hope 
of  realizing  this  virtue  in  my  own  person  springs  up,  now  that 
I  see  in  Jesus  an  inexhaustible  desire  to  infuse  it  into  ever)^ 
human  heart,  and  am  taught  that  this  inspiring  influence  was 
the  very  purpose  of  his  life  and  death  !  Other  sages  have 
spoken  to  me  of  God.  But  from  whom  could  I  have  learned 
the  essence  of  divine  perfection  as  from  him  who  was  in  a 
peculiar  sense  the  Son,  representative,  and  image  of  God, 
who  was  especially  an  incarnation  of  the  unbounded  love  of 
the  Father? 

And  from  what  other  teacher  could  I  have  learned  to 
ai:)proach  the  Supreme  Being  with  that  filial  spirit  which  forms 
iIk."  happiness  of  my  fellowship  with  him  ?  From  other  seers 
1  might  have  heard  of  heaven ;  but  when  I  behold  in  Jesus  the 
spirit  ol   heaven  dwelling   actually   upon   earth,    what    a  new 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  409 

comprehension  have  I  of  that  world  !  And  when  at  last  I  see 
him  returning,  through  a  life  and  death  of  all-enduring  devot- 
edness,  to  those  pure  mansions  of  the  blest,  how  much  nearer 
are  they  brought  to  me  !  What  a  new  power  does  futurity, 
thus  associated  with  Jesus,  exert  upon  the  mind  !  The  spirit 
of  Jesus  is  thus  the  true  life-giving  energy  of  his  religion  ;  and 
well  may  we  rejoice  in  the  human  and  humble  birth  by  which 
his  peerless  character  w^as  made  to  shine  forth  so  gloriously 
before  "  all  people,"  throughout  all  ages. 


WILLIAM    D.    GODMAN. 

[Ingham  Lectures.     New  York  :  1872.     Pp.  359-363.] 

Jesus  realizes  all  the  good  possibilities  that  were  wrapped 
up  in  the  first  man.  All  that  intellect  can  be,  all  that  can 
grow  in  the  pure  heart,  all  beautiful  thoughts,  all  best  affec- 
tions, whatsoever  we  can  conceive  of  perfect  good  in  the 
possible  experiences  of  a  man,  whatsoever  is  grand  in  moral 
power,  whatsoever  is  beautiful  in  sentiment,  —  all  gather 
together  harmoniously  into  the  oneness  of  this  glorious  Per- 
son. Privation,  pain,  and  sorrow  dim  not  the  brightness  of 
his  perfection,  but  seem  to  be  the  media  for  its  highest  mani- 
festations. He  has  not  where  to  lay  his  head,  but  yet  he  is 
at  home  everywhere.  He  has  no  lot  to  seek  ;  there  is  none 
whereof  he  complains.  He  loves  men.  He  is  at  home  with 
them  everywhere,  —  in  hut  and  harbor  and  palace.  His 
presence  is  a  charm.  He  brings  with  it  attraction.  He  uses 
that  attraction  to  bring  men  nearer  to  his  ideal  self,  up  towards 
the  measure  of  his  spiritual  stature. 

He  has  the  most  perfect  equipoise  ever  known  in  man. 
He  strives  not.  He  cries  not.  He  is  never  in  a  hurry.  He 
is  never  agitated.  He  is  not  storm-tossed  wath  passion.  The 
storm  shadows  of  our  life  seem  not  to  fleck  the  sublime 
serenity  of  his  interior  life.  He  is  not  up  and  down  like  the 
ocean  billows,  as  most  of  us  are.     He  is  as  composed  among 


4IO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

the  crowd  of  crafty,  vulgar,  stormy  adversaries,  as  is  the  sleep- 
ing infant  in  its  mother's  arms.  He  sleeps  when  nature  is 
enraged,  and  rises  in  calmness  to  chide  the  winds. 

This  sunny  sweetness,  this  grand  composure,  made  him  a 
o-rateful  refuge  to  the  weary-hearted.  Like  a  mountain,  he 
could  furnish  a  quiet  retreat  for  weary  flocks.  Like  a  great 
rock,  he  casts  his  shadow  over  the  fainting  traveller.  He  had 
nothing  in  him  exclusively  Jewish.  He  cherished  no  fondness 
for  the  traditions  of  his  ancestor  David.  He  had  no  family 
pride,  no  pride  of  intellect,  no  vanity  of  achievements,  no 
conceit.  There  was  in  him  no  littleness,  no  narrowness,  no 
blind  prejudice,  no  obstinacy.  His  thoughts  are  fresh  to-day 
as  when  they  were  uttered.  They  bear  no  mark  of  Jewish 
master.  They  bear  no  partial  reference  to  times  and  countries. 
They  are  of  universal  import,  and  of  immortal  excellence. 

Such  a  human  being  is  2i perfect  man,  filling  out  our  ideal 
of  the  highest  human  excellence,  and  leaving  nothing  yet  to 
be  attained!  The  race  culminates  in  him.  All  history  before 
sought  after  him,  and  looked  forward  to  him.  All  history 
since  looks  back  to  him,  and  moves  forward  in  his  light. 

Perfect  as  was  this  humanity  in  its  inception  and  growth, 
the  history  makes  it  plain  that  its  acme  of  refined  complete- 
ness was  realized  by  the  instrumentality  of  suffering.  This  it 
is  which  brings  it  nearest  to  our  sympathies,  and  opens  the 
innermost  depths  of  our  hearts  for  its  fellowship. 

That  such  a  being  suffered  as  we  do,  and  yet  was  perfect, 
sheds  a  radiance  on  our  sorrows,  and  relieves  them  of  their 
harsher  aspects.  His  suffering  makes  his  love  for  us  deeper 
and  stronger,  in  proportion  as  his  perfections  stand  in  contrast 
with  our  unworthiness.  His  trials  add  to  his  inherent  excel- 
lence the  grandeur  of  heroism  ;  and  his  humanity  shines  the 
more  perfectly  human,  inasmuch  as  it  stands  secure,  while  all 
others  of  human  kind  have  fallen  in  the  hour  of  trial.   .   .   . 

Who  can  utter  the  value  of  this  one  thought  in  history, 
Ihat  Jesus  fommitted  no  sin  f  Does  it  not  illuminate  every 
dark  page  of  our  human  record  ?     Does  it  not  surround  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  411 

very  savage  of  Africa's  dark  wastes  with  a  halo  of  possibiHties 
otherwise  not  to  be  imagined  ?  Does  it  not  kindle  hope  in  the 
criminal's  bosom,  the  victim  of  society's  justice,  the  doomed 
wretch  who  has  no  hope  for  this  life  ?  Ah  !  who  can  tell  how 
deep  a  pall  would  have  rested  on  the  spirit  of  the  modern 
world  if  it  had  inherited  the  mistakes  and  miseries  of  the 
ancient  world  without  the  glory  of  Jesus  ?  Who  can  tell  how 
much  of  the  hopefulness,  the  cheer,  and  the  triumph  of  our 
modern  civilization  is  owing  to  the  sinlessness  of  this  one  man  ? 
For  it  is  this  that  makes  him  dear,  —  makes  him  a  Saviour. 

This  sinlessness  is  sunshine  over  all  lands,  and  in  all 
hearts.  It  gives  emphasis  to  the  commands  of  conscience 
in  the  bosoms  of  the  great  and  of  the  humble.  It  overhangs 
the  oracles  of  justice,  and  makes  the  utterances  of  human  law 
more  sacred.  It  enters  the  noisy  marts  of  trade,  and  reveals 
to  the  worshipper  of  Mammon  a  more  entrancing  lustre  than 
that  of  gold.  It  glows  in  the  sacred  desk,  and  sanctions  every 
claim  of  divine  law,  while  it  glorifies  the  benignity  of  the 
Gospel. 


GEORGE    DANA    BOARDMAN. 

[Method  of  Jesus  Christ  as  Teacher.     In  Lectures  on  the  Bible.     New  York: 
1877.     Pp.  205,  207,  209,  217.] 

Beneath  the  teaching  of  the  scribes,  who  had  taken  the 
seat  of  Moses,  all  had  become  formal,  artificial,  riofid,  techni- 
cal,  arbitrary,  pedantic,  microscopic,  rotative,  slavish,  hollow, 
icy,  —  every  duty  duly  labelled  and  pigeon-holed. 

Not  so  did  Jesus  Christ  teach.  No  teaching  was  ever 
fresher  or  more  vitalizing  than  his.  So  far  was  he  from  idol- 
izing the  letter,  that  in  his  quotations  from  law  or  prophet  he 
was  generally  content  with  quoting  the  thought  rather  than 
the  word.  He  did  not  load  down  the  memory  of  his  pupils 
with  citations  of  traditions  from  Hillel  the  Looser,  or  of  pre- 
cedents from  Shammai  the  Binder.  Nor  did  he  oppress  their 
consciences  with  numerous  and  tiny  regulations,  or  vex  them 


412  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

with  gossamer  distinctions  and  phantom  conceits.  He  did 
not  turn  religion  into  a  rubric,  or  character  into  a  mummy. 
In   short,  he  did  not  teach  as  the  scribes. 

Jesus  Christ  did  not  teach  systematically ;  that  is  to  say, 
according  to  what  we  would  call  a  scientific  method.  In  his 
instructions  there  is  no  appearance  of  elaboration,  no  show 
of  logic.  Look  at  this  Instruction  of  the  Mount.  It  is  the 
most  formal  and  elaborate  of  his  teachings,  for  it  is  his  pro- 
nunciamento  as  the  new  king.  And  yet  nothing  could  be 
simpler,  or  more  free  from  all  signs  of  study.  It  has  no 
firstlies,  secondlies,  thirdlies  ;  it  does  not  sug-ofest  Aristotle's 
dialectics,  or  Calvin's  syllogisms,  or  Buckle's  statistics.  In  fact, 
it  is  so  informal  as  to  baffle  any  natural  analysis.  And  so 
with  all  his  teachings.  Not  that  there  is  no  plan  in  them, 
or  no  philosophy  in  his  religion  :  he  is  profoundly  systematic. 
But  his  system  is  the  natural  meandering  of  the  river,  not  the 
artificial  course  of  the  canal.  To  the  student  of  nature,  there 
is  more  method  in  a  cedar  of  Lebanon  than  in  the  temple  of 
Solomon. 

Jesus  Christ  did  not  teach  rhetorically.  The  thought  does 
not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  him,  of  substituting  aesthetics 
for  relio-ion,  literature  for  dog-ma,  culture  for  righteousness. 
Look  at  his  instructions.  In  vain  shall  you  search  for  finely 
turned  sentences,  ornate  amplifications,  brilliant  Bights,  elegant 
allusions,  learned  quotations  from  the  hermeneutics  of  Hillel, 
or  the  theology  of  Zoroaster,  or  the  metaphysics  of  Plato,  or 
the  poetry  of  Virgil.  His  language  is  the  language  of  the 
common  people.  And  yet,  unstudied  and  homely  as  it  is,  it 
involves  the  lore  of  the  eternities. 

What  he  came  to  teach  was  not  incidentals,  but  essentials ; 
not  ephemerals,  l)ut  eternals  ;  not  facts,  but  truths.  "  To  this 
end  was  I  born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world,  that 
I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth."  Yes,  Jesus  Christ 
came  into  the  world  to  attest  the  existence  of  unseen,  ele- 
mentary, eternal  realities.  And  how  profound  and  radical  his 
teachings  !      I  low   utterly   free   from   all    pettiness    of   details, 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  413 

from  all  that  is  merely  incidental  and  transient !  For  exam- 
ple, the  Lord  does  not  tell  us  how  often  to  pray,  or  how  much 
to  eive,  or  when  to  Qfo  to  church,  or  what  to  do  or  what 
not  to  do  on  the  sabbath  day.  And  yet  many  persons 
imagine  that  if  they  could  know  such  things  as  these,  they 
would  master  the  chief  problems  of  the  Christian  life.  It  is 
a  profound  misconception  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ. 
No  martinet  disciplinarian  is  he,  turning  life  into  a  minute 
and  perennial  drill,  where  all  is  "  faultily  faultless,  icily 
regular,   splendidly  null." 

No,  he  does  not  tell  us  what  to  do,  so  much  as  what  to  be  ; 
for,  if  we  are  what  we  ought  to  be,  he  knows  we  will  do  what 
we  ought  to  do.  He  does  not  purify  the  stream  of  life  by 
undertaking  to  purify  each  separate  drop  as  it  rushes  along : 
he  purifies  life  at  its  fountain.  He  grapples  with  living, 
immortal,  transcendent  issues,  even  the  issue  of  a  godlike 
character:  "  Be  ye  perfect,  even  as  your  Father  which  is  in 
heaven  is  perfect." 

Once  more  :  Jesus  Christ  taught  with  the  authority  of  one 
whose  character  was  itself  the  supreme  authority. 

How  marvellous  the  authority  of  the  Galilaean  carpenter 
over  the  ages  !  How.  he  dominates  men's  intellects  and  affec- 
tions and  consciences !  At  the  mention  of  his  name,  how 
many  millions  bow,  and  confess  that  he  is  Lord  of  lords  !  The 
civilized  world,  in  spite  of  the  sneer  of  the  sceptic  and  the 
wrath  of  the  reprobate,  reckons  its  dates  from  the  year  of  his 
birth,  heading  their  documents  with  the  august  words.  Anno 
Domini.  The  word  Christendom  itself,  —  what  is  it  but 
Christ's  dominion  ?  And  whence  came  this  man's  authority  ? 
Not  from  wealth,  for  he  had  not  where  to  lay  his  head  ;  not 
from  social  influence,  for  his  own  brothers  did  not  believe  in 
him,  his  own  townsmen  rejected  him,  his  own  countr)^men 
crucified  him  ;  not  from  scholarship,  for  he  was  only  a  Naza- 
rene  mechanic,  without  academic  training.  "  How  knoweth 
this  man  letters,  having  never  learned?"  that  is,  having 
never  been  trained  as  a  rabbi.     And  yet,   never  man   spake 


414  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

like  this  man.  Whence,  then,  comes  this  man's  authority  ? 
From  the  majesty  of  personal  character,  from  the  omnipotence 
of  daily  life. 

Men  can  fight  other  things ;  they  can  fight  wealth,  rank, 
force,  brain :  but  they  cannot  fight  character.  And  this  man's 
heavenly  teachings  were  matched,  buttressed,  made  imperial, 
by  his  heavenly  life.  Therefore  never  man  spake  like  this 
man,  never  teacher  with  this  teacher's  authority. 


RICHARD   \VHATELY. 

[Christian  Evidences.     Boston:  1850.     Pp.  77-80.] 

The  character  of  our  Saviour,  as  described  in  the  Gospels, 
is  one  of  the  strongest  proofs,  and  the  most  satisfactory  and 
delightful  proof,  of  the  truth  of  his  religion.  But  the  moral 
excellence  of  his  character,  as  drawn  by  the  Evangelists,  is 
what  could  not  be  set  forth,  so  as  to  do  justice  to  the  argu- 
ment founded  on  it,  within  a  small  space.  For  it  would  be 
necessary  to  dwell  at  some  length  on  each  of  his  sayings  and 
acts,  so  as  to  point  out  the  kindness  and  tenderness  of  heart, 
the  persevering  benevolence,  the  gentleness  combined  with 
dignity  and  firmness,  the  active  and  unwearied  yet  calm  zeal 
with  which  he  labored  for  the  good  of  mankind,  and  the 
other  great  and  amiable  qualities  which  he  displayed  on  so 
many  occasions. 

In  conducting  for  yourself  such  a  study  as  we  have  been 
suggesting,  these  three  points  should  be  attended  to.  and 
steadily  kept  before  the  mind  :  — 

First,  The  picture  drawn  by  the  Evangelists  is,  evidently, 
an  unstudied  one.  There  is  nothing  in  it  of  the  nature  of 
euloo^ium  and  panegyric.  They  do  not  seem  laboring  to  set 
forth  and  call  attention  to  the  excellence  of  their  Master's 
character.  They  do  not  break  out  into  any  exclamations  of 
admiration  of  it ;  and,  indeed,  make  hardly  any  remarks  on  it 
at  all,  but  simply  relate  what  he  said  and  did. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  415 

Secondly,  If  they  had  the  indination,  they  do  not  seem  to 
have  had  the  ability,  to  draw  a  fictitious  character  of  great 
moral  beauty,  devised  by  their  own  imagination.  They  write 
like  plain,  unpractised  authors,  without  learning,  or  eloquence, 
or  skill  in  composition.  Now,  let  any  one  try  the  experiment 
of  setting  some  person,  of  great  ability  as  a  writer,  to  draw 
up  a  fictitious  narrative  concerning  some  imaginary  personage. 
Let  him  enter  into  particiUar  details  as  fully  as  the  Evangelists 
have  done  ;  and  let  him  do  his  best  to  paint  a  character  as 
consistent,  and  as  morally  beautiful,  as  that  of  Jesus.  You 
would  see  how  imperfectly  he  would  succeed,  and  how  far  he 
would  fall  short  of  the  picture  drawn,  and  which  must  there- 
fore be  a  real  picture,  by  untaught  Jewish  fishermen  and 
peasants. 

And  what  we  have  been  saying  is  confirmed  by  certain 
works  commonly  called  the  "  Spurious  Gospels ;  "  of  which 
some  considerable  portions  have  come  down  to  us.  They 
seem  to  have  been  composed  —  some  of  them  as  early  as  the 
fourth  century  —  partly  from  invention  and  partly  from  some 
vague  traditions  that  were  afloat.  But  they  were  never,  as 
far  as  we  can  learn,  received  by  any  church  as  Scripture. 
These  narratives  professed  to  give  several  particulars  of  the 
life  of  Jesus,  —  especially  of  his  childhood,  —  which  are  not 
to  be  found  in   the  genuine  Gospels. 

Now,  it  is  remarkable,  that  though  the  writers  evidently 
designed  to  raise  admiration  of  our  Lord,  and  manifest  that 
design  very  strongly,  yet  the  picture  they  draw  of  him  is,  in 
many  points,  contemptible  or  odious.  For  instance,  they 
represent  him  as  exercising,  when  a  child,  miraculous  powers, 
not  for  any  purpose  connected  with  his  ministry,  but  merely 
for  his  own  amusement,  as  any  ordinary  child  would  be  likely 
to  do  if  gifted  with  such  powers.  He  is  also  represented  as 
so  passionate  and  mischievous  a  child,  that  he  miraculously 
struck  dead  another  boy  for  accidentally  running  against  him. 
In  short,  his  character  as  given  in  these  "  Spurious  Gos- 
pels "  is  quite  a  contrast  to  that  given  by  each  of  our  four 


41 6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

Evangelists.    And  the  whole  tone  of  the  narratives  themselves 
—  the  spurious  and  the  genuine  —  is  no  less  contrasted. 

Thirdly,  You  are  to  keep  in  mind,  that  the  private  moral 
character  of  Jesus  is  U7iimpeached,  even  by  the  opponents  of 
the  Gospel.  None  of  them  have  ever  imputed  to  him  avarice. 
or  cruelty,  or  any  kind  of  profligate  sensualit}-.  Certainly  no 
man  was  ever  so  unimpeached  in  character,  who  had  so  many 
and  such  bitter  enemies  ;  enemies  who  would  have  been  glad 
to  get  hold  of  any  story,  or  even  any  suspicion,  that  could 
raise  a  prejudice  against  him. 


GEORGE    MACDONALD. 

[Unspoken  Sermons.     New  York  :  1879.     Pp-  10-12,  54,  55.] 

Our  Lord  could  not  commission  any  one  to  be  received 
in  his  name  who  could  not  more  or  less  represent  him.  for 
there  would  be  untruth  and  unreason.  Moreover,  he  had 
just  been  telling  the  disciples  that  they  must  become  like 
this  child ;  and  now.  when  he  tells  them  to  receive  such  a 
little  child  in  his  name,  it  must  surely  imply  something  in 
common  between  them  all,  something  in  which  the  child  and 
Jesus  meet,  something  in  which  the  child  and  the  disciples 
meet.     What  else  can  that  be  than  the  spiritual  childhood  ? 

In  my  name  does  not  mean  because  I  ivill  it.  An  arbitrary 
utterance  of  the  will  of  our  Lord  would  certainly  find  ten 
thousand  to  obey  it,  even  to  suffering,  for  one  that  will  be 
able  to  receive  such  a  vital  truth  of  his  character  as  is  con- 
tained in  the  words.  But  it  is  not  obedience  alone  that  our 
Lord  will  have,  but  obedience  to  the  trutJi :  that  is,  to  the 
light  of  the  world,  truth  beheld  and  known.  In  7ny  na7?ie, 
if  we  take  all  we  can  find  in  it,  the  full  meaning  which  alone 
will  harmonize  and  make  the  passage  a  whole,  involves  a 
revelation  from  resemblance,  from  fitne.ss  to  represent  and 
so  reveal.  He  who  receives  a  child,  then,  in  the  name  of 
Jesus,  does   .so    perceiving  wherein    Jesus   and   the  child  are 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  417 

one,  what  is  common  to  them.  He  must  not  only  see  the 
ideal  child  in  the  child  he  receives,  that  reality  of  loveliness 
which  constitutes  true  childhood,  but  must  perceive  that  the 
child  is  like  Jesus,  or,  rather,  that  the  Lord  is  like  the  child, 
and  may  be  embraced,  yea,  is  embraced,  by  every  heart 
childlike  enoufjh  to  embrace  a  child  for  the  sake  of  his  child- 
ness.  I  do  not  therefore  say  that  none  but  those  who  are 
thus  conscious  in  the  act  partake  of  the  blessing.  But  a 
special  sense,  a  lofty  knowledge  of  blessedness,  belongs  to 
the  act  of  embracing  a  child  as  the  visible  likeness  of  the  Lord 
himself.  For  the  blessedness  is  the  perceiving  of  the  truth  ; 
the  blessing  is  the  truth  itself,  the  God-known  truth,  that  the 
Lord  has  the  heart  of  a  child.  The  man  who  perceives  this 
knows  in  himself  that  he  is  blessed,  —  blessed  because  that  is 
true. 

There  is  more  hid  in  Christ  than  we  shall  ever  learn, 
here  or  there  either ;  but  they  that  begin  first  to  inquire  will 
soonest  be  gladdened  with  revelation  ;  and  with  them  he 
will  be  best  pleased,  for  the  slowness  of  his  disciples  troubled 
him  of  old.  To  say  that  we  must  wait  for  the  other  world, 
to  know  the  mind  of  him  who  came  to  this  world  to  eive 
himself  to  us,  seems  to  me  the  foolishness  of  a  worldly  and 
lazy  spirit.  The  Son  of  God  is  the  teacher  of  men,  giving 
to  them  of  his  Spirit,  —  that  Spirit  which  manifests  the  deep 
things  of  God,  being  to  a  man  the  mind  of  Christ. 

The  great  heresy  of  the  Church  of  the  present  day  is 
unbelief  in  this  Spirit.  The  mass  of  the  Church  does  not 
believe  that  the  Spirit  has  a  revelation  for  every  man  individ- 
ually, —  a  revelation  as  different  from  the  revelation  of  the 
Bible,  as  the  food  in  the  moment  of  passing  into  living  brain 
and  nerve  differs  from  the  bread  and  meat.  If  we  were  once 
filled  with  the  mind  of  Christ,  we  should  know  that  the  Bible 
had  done  its  work,  was  fulfilled,  and  had  for  us  passed  away, 
that  thereby  the  Word  of  our  God  might  abide  forever.  The 
one  use  of  the  Bible  is  to  make  us  look  at  Jesus,  that  through 
him  we  might  know  his  Father  and  our  Father,  his  God  and 


41 8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

our  God.  Till  we  thus  know  him,  let  us  hold  the  Bible  dear 
as  the  moon  of  our  darkness,  by  which  we  travel  towards  the 
East ;  not  dear  as  the  sun  whence  her  light  cometh,  and 
towards  which  we  haste,  that,  walking  in  the  sun  himself, 
we  may  no  more  need  the  mirror  that  reflected  his  absent 
brightness. 

THOMAS   GRIFFITH. 

[Studies  of  the  Divine  Master.     London:  1875.     Pp.  436-441.] 

The  character  of  "  the  foremost  man  in  all  the  world." 
Let  us  not  think  to  gauge  the  depths  of  this  unique  person- 
ality ;  to  walk  round  it  in  all  its  aspects ;  to  catalogue  all  the 
features  which  make  up  together  its  marvellous  completeness. 

The  profoundest  moralists  find  the  perfection  of  personal 
character  in  the  presence  and  predominance  of  two  leading 
features,  —  firmness  of  will,  and  flexibility  of  will;  the  unmoved 
consistency  of  conduct  with  conscience,  and  the  ever-moving 
adaptation  of  a  many-sided  personality,  in  ever-widening 
completeness,  to  all  the  varying  circumstances  of  life. 

And  who  does  not  remark  in  Jesus,  as  his  very  first  char- 
acteristic, this  consistency  of  conduct  with  conscience,  this 
firmness  of  will  amidst  all  the  tests  to  which  it  was  exposed  ? 
.  .  .  No  yielding  to  plausible  suggestions ;  no  swerving  by 
a  hair's  breadth  from  the  law  of  his  being ;  no  hesitation 
either  about  the  right,  or  the  doing  of  the  right.  The  ideal 
of  his  duty,  as  the  Son  of  God,  remains  undisturbed  in  all  its 
purity  before  him.  Its  essential  features  of  faith  waiting  on 
God's  will ;  fear  playing  not  with  God's  promises  ;  fidelity 
throwing  back  with  a  hasty  indignation  the  mere  whisper  of 
any  transfer  of  allegiance,  even  as  a  mirror  throws  off  from 
its  polished  surface  the  slightest  breath  of  defilement.  —  these 
shine  out  full  in  him.  He  will  neither,  through  mistrust  of 
his  Father,  help  himself  to  what  he  needs  ;  nor,  through  over- 
trust  of  his  Father,  "  play  fantastic  tricks  before  high  heaven;" 
nor,  through  transfer  of  trust  to  any  other  than  his  Father, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  419 

seek  by  bad  means  good  ends.  And  this  steadfastness  of  will 
we  see  maintained  throughout  the  whole  career  of  Jesus. 
When  the  Pharisees  warned  him  that  Herod  was  purposing 
to  kill  him,  what  was  his  majestic  answer?  "  Nevertheless,  I 
must  go  on  in  my  work  to-day,  and  to-morrow,  till  I  have 
finished  that  which  Is  given  me  to  do." 

But  while  central  fixity  is  the  first  mark  of  all  greatness 
of  character,  not  less  important  is  the  circumferential  flexibil- 
it}^  which  is  ever  widening  itself  into  contact  with  all  the 
varying  circumstances  of  life.  All  this  was  conspicuous  in 
Jesus.  He  was  emphatically,  beyond  all  others,  a  myriad- 
minded  man.  The  rays  from  his  central  force  spread  them- 
selves in  every  direction  ;  always  the  same  in  essence,  yet 
always  varying  in  form  and  color  and  brilliancy,  according 
to  the  surfaces  on  which  they  impinged.  With  the  utmost 
vehemence,  there  was  in  him  nothing  violent ;  with  the  fullest 
vigor,  nothing  overbearing ;  with  the  highest  dignity,  nothing 
haughty ;  lofty  as  a  hero,  gentle  as  a  woman  ;  manly  with- 
out high-mightiness,  feminine  without  effeminacy ;  a  perfect 
specimen  of  that  essential  difference  which  Coleridge  once 
remarked  to  me  as  distino-uishing-  all  hiorh  character,  —  the 
femitiine  quality  refining,  elevating,  purifying,  beautifying 
every  other,  shedding  over  all  the  fragrance  of  a  virgin 
delicacy ;  yet  no  effeminacy  such  as  Renan  has  given  to  him. 
We  see  him,  indeed,  braving  the  wrath  of  the  most  inveterate 
enemies,  yet  weeping  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus  ;  hurling  indig- 
nation like  a  thunderbolt  at  the  head  of  priests  and  lawyers, 
yet  insinuating  comfort  like  a  sunbeam  into  the  heart  of 
penitent   offenders. 

This  combination  of  the  tenderest  compassion  for  curable 
sin,  and  the  sternest  wrath  against  incurable  malignity,  exactly 
realizes  what  Socrates  requires  of  a  good  man  :  "  Every  one 
should  combine  with  the  greatest  possible  gentleness  a  spirited 
indiofnation.  For  we  can  no  otherwise  secure  ourselves  from 
those  injustices  of  others,  which  are  either  difficult  or  impos- 
sible to  be  cured,  except  by  attacking  them,  resisting  them, 


420  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

triumphing  over  them,  and  punishing  them  without  mercy. 
And  no  soul  is  equal  to  this  without  high-minded  indignation. 
With  respect,  indeed,  to  those  who  are  unjust,  but  yet  are 
curable,  we  must  recollect  that  such  are  altogether  to  be 
pitied  and  treated  with  tenderness  ;  but  it  is  indispensable  to 
hurl  wrath  against  the  incorrigible.  And,  therefore,  every  good 
man  must  be  capable  of  indignation  as  well  as  gentleness." 

How  various,  too,  his  procedure  with  difterent  classes 
of  men,  —  the  multitude,  the  Pharisees,  the  disciples,  the 
oppressed,  the  haughty,  the  submissive!  In  how  many  ways 
he  "  went  about  doing  good  "  !  now  healing,  now  teaching, 
now  reproving,  now  consoling,  now  rousing  up  to  fear,  now 
animating  into  hope,  now  explaining,  now  arguing,  now  re- 
futing arguments,  now  encouraging  the  simple,  now  denoun- 
cing the  hypocritical ;  and  all  this  now  in  private,  now  in 
public,  now  in  the  crowded  city,  now  in  the  solitary  wilder- 
ness, now  in  heretical  Galilee,  now  in  heathen  Tyre  and 
Sidon,  now  in  orthodox  Jerusalem. 

And  what  magnificence  did  this  wondrous  compound  of 
firmness  and  flexibility,  of  unity  and  versatility  of  will,  throw 
around  the  whole  personal  character  of  this  divine  man ! 
How  he  towers  up  above  all  about  him  !  How  he  comes 
before  our  fantasy  with  the  erect  port,  the  eagle  eye,  the 
beaming  countenance,  the  commanding  though  not  imperi- 
ous demeanor  of  a  king  of  men  !  See  him  rising  up  in  the 
synagogue  of  his  family  village,  with  the  rapt,  transfigured 
countenance  of  one  who  feels  within  himself,  "The  Spirit  of 
the  Lord  is  upon  me."  See  him  standing  over  the  poor 
crazed  wretch,  with  majestic  dignity  rebuking  the  foul  demon 
who  possessed  him.  See  him  in  the  synagogue,  "  looking 
round  about"  upon  his  enemies  in  that  white  heat  of  lofty 
indignation,  which  like  lightning  scathes  by  its  very  purity, 
and  simply  saying  to  the  palsied  sufterer,  "  Stretch  forth  thine 
hand." 

And  confirm  )our  own  imagination  of  what  must  have 
been  the  halo  ol   glory  which  surrounded  him,  by  observing 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  421 

the  impression  which  he  actually  made  on  those  about  him, 
whether  friends  or  foes.  They  unconsciously  do  him  homage. 
They  are  attracted  to  him  as  by  a  magnetic  force.  They  are 
swayed  by  him  as  by  a  mesmeric  power.  A  word  to  the 
busiest  and  most  prosperous,  laboring  in  their  boats,  or  sitting 
in  their  offices,  makes  them  "  rise  up  and  forsake  all,  and 
follow  him."  The  lustre  of  his  appearance  makes  the  people 
"  run  to  him  greatly  amazed."  The  officers  who  are  sent  to 
seize  him  return  ashamed  to  their  employers,  crying,  "  Never 
man  spake  like  this  man."  At  the  first  glance  of  his  eye,  the 
guards  who  were  pressing  to  arrest  him  "  go  backward,  and 
fall  to  the  ground."  And  his  most  determined  enemies  were 
so  terror-struck  at  his  continually  brightening  splendor,  that 
it  formed  to  them  the  justification  of  their  extremest  measures. 
"If  we  let  this  man  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him,  and 
the  Romans  will  come  and  sweep  away  our  place  and  nation." 


EBENEZER  P.    ROGERS. 

[Christ:  His  Nature  and  Work.     New  York:  187S.     Pp.  223-225,  232.] 

Fifty-five  generations  have  passed  away ;  and  there  is  no 
name  which  exerts  such  an  influence  in  the  world  to-day,  as 
the  name  of  him  who  was  lifted  up  on  the  cross.  It  is 
associated  with  the  most  advanced  civilization  ;  with  the  best 
and  most  endurine  literature;  with  the  noblest  forms  of  art; 
with  the  broadest  systems  of  education ;  with  the  most 
gigantic  enterprises  of  commerce ;  with  the  purest  and  most 
extended  institutions  of  philanthropy;  with  the  most  refined 
and  healthful  social  progress  ;  and,  in  fine,  with  every  element 
of  dignity,  prosperity,  and  power,  among  the  nations  of  the 
earth. 

The  name  Christian,  which  was  at  first  o-iven  to  a  few 
humble  individuals  in  an  Oriental  city,  as  a  term  of  reproach, 
is  now  blazoned  on  the  banners  of  the  greatest  kingdoms  of 
the  earth,  and  borne  with  pride  by  the  peoples  who  rule  the 


42  2  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

world.  The  cross,  once  the  emblem  of  shame  and  reproach 
and  guilt,  is  now  a  symbol  of  what  is  pure  and  and  honorable 
and  sacred  among  the  most  advanced  and  powerful  nations 
of  the  earth.  It  gleams  from  the  towers  and  spires  of  innu- 
merable temples  of  Christian  worship.  It  is  borne  on  the 
diadems  of  the  most  illustrious  kings.  Beauty  wears  it  as  an 
ornament.  Devotion  bows  before  it,  on  the  altar.  It  has 
given  shape  and  grandeur  to  the  proudest  specimens  of 
modern  architecture.  It  has  inspired  the  noblest  creations 
of  the  chisel  and  the  pencil.  It  has  kindled  in  human 
hearts  the  most  heroic  sentiments.  It  has  led  unnumbered 
hosts  to  battle  and  to  victory.  It  has  inspired  more  martyrs 
than  science,  or  art,  or  discovery,  or  commerce,  or  any  great 
interest  of  mankind.  It  has  cheered  the  souls  of  the  dying, 
and  been  carved  by  loving  fingers  over  the  tombs  of  the 
dead.  It  is  to-day  the  symbol  of  the  most  ad\'anced  forms 
of  civilization,  the  most  liberal  systems  of  government,  the 
most  progressive  theories  of  human  development,  the  purest 
social  state,  and  the  most  practical  and  successful  endeavors 
for  the  amelioration  of  human  suffering  and  the  extension 
of  human  happiness.  A  man  must  be  blind,  and  deaf,  and 
idiotic,  who  can  look  over  the  world,  and  deny  that  this  is  the 
history,  and  this  the  present  position,  of  Christianity. 

It  is  not,  then,  too  much  to  say,  that  the  words  of  Jesus 
Christ,  uttered  in  view  of  his  death  on  the  cross,  "And  I,  if  I 
be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me,"  have  really  been 
fulfilled  in  the  history  of  Christianity.  The  prophecy  was, 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  cross  should  be  the  o-reatest  moral 
power  in  the  universe.  The  prediction  was,  that  this  suffering, 
dying  Saviour  should  be  the  centre  of  attraction  to  the  world, 
and  that  an  inOuence  should  emanate  from  his  cross,  which 
should  ev(Mitually  bring  the  whole  world  under  its  sway.  It 
was  as  it  he  had  said,  "  You  may  hang  me  on  the  cross  ;  you 
may  lilt  mv.  up  between  heaven  and  earth  :  but  in  so  doing 
you  will  make  me  the  grand  centre  of  universal  and  perma- 
nent attraction  among  men.      My  name  will  never  be  forgotten. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  423 

No  name  will  be  so  well  known  by  all  mankind.  No  name 
will  excite  so  much  interest,  provoke  so  much  discussion, 
arouse  so  much  opposition,  awaken  so  much  enthusiasm, 
kindle  so  much  devotion,  and  be  so  constantly  on  the  lips  of 
men.  No  story  will  be  so  deeply  incorporated  into  the  litera- 
ture of  all  ages,  will  be  told  in  so  many  of  the  languages  of 
the  earth,  will  be  the  theme  of  so  much  comment,  will  excite 
so  much  emotion,  and  be  so  carefully  handed  down  from 
generation  to  generation." 

On  the  Lord's  Day,  amid  the  arctic  frosts,  or  the  equato- 
rial heats,  among  the  sands  of  the  deserts,  and  the  isles  of 
the  sea,  this  name  of  Christ,  this  story  of  the  cross,  is  spoken  ; 
and  the  sun,  in  his  radiant  course  around  the  world,  witnesses 
the  universal  homage  paid  to  him  who  was  lifted  up  on  the 
tree,  and  who  then  predicted  that  his  cross  would  be  the  grand 
magnetic  centre  of  the  creation  of  God.  .  .  . 

To  ameliorate  human  suffering,  and  assuage  human  grief, 
has  been  a  great  study  of  wise  men  and  philanthropists  ever 
since  sorrow  followed  in  the  train  of  sin.  Philosophers  and 
moralists,  orators  and  poets  and  teachers,  of  every  variety,  in 
all  ages,  have  tried  to  discover  some  adequate  solace  for 
human  woe.  What  volumes  have  been  written,  what  orations 
have  been  pronounced,  what  counsels  have  been  published, 
on  this  theme,  so  old  and  hackneyed,  yet  so  constant  and 
imperative  ! 

And  how  little  have  all  these  done  to  lighten  the  burdens 
which  rest  on  sorrowful  souls  !  All  that  they  could  do  was  to 
inculcate  the  cold  lessons  of  stoicism,  or  urge  man  to  a  blind 
and  reluctant  submission  to  the  decrees  of  an  inevitable  and 
irresistible  fate.  "Why  do  you  weep,  since  tears  are  unavail- 
ino;?"  said  one  to  Solon,  as  he  mourned  at  the  bier  of  his 
child.  "  It  is  for  that  very  reason  I  weep,"  was  the  heart- 
broken father's  reply. 

How  different  are  the  ministrations  of  Christ  to  mourners! 
He,  too,  says  to  the  widow,  "  Weep  not,"  but  not  in  the  cold 
words  of  unfeeling  stoicism.     He  says  to  the  bereaved  father 


424  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

at  the  grave  of  his  son,  to  the  mother  bending  over  her  dying 
babe,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  hfe  ;  he  that  beheveth 
in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live."  He  says, 
"  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions  ;  "  and  "  God  shall 
wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes."  Thus  his  ministrations 
are  not  those  of  a  philosopher  or  a  mere  teacher,  but  of  a 
living  and  sympathizing  friend  and  helper,  bringing  to  the 
afflicted  revelations  which  are  full  of  practical  power  to  help 
and  comfort. 

EDWIN   A.   ABBOTT. 

[Through  Nature  to  Christ.     London:  1877.     Pp.  270-2S0.] 

Ix  the  society  of  Jesus  there  were  to  be  no  distinctions  of 
rank  except  such  as  arose  from  distinctions  of  service.  The 
least  would  represent  the  Master:  the  greatest  could  represent 
no  more.  The  object  of  the  whole  society  was  the  same,  — 
war  against  sin.  The  weapon  with  which  they  were  especially 
armed  by  their  Master  was  the  sword  of  the  Spirit.  The 
Church  of  Christ  was  a  spiritual  Sparta,  a  society  of  combat ; 
yet  they  had  no  detailed  code  of  laws  and  regulations,  such  as 
Lycurgus  bequeathed  to  his  martial  fellow-countrymen,  laying 
down  principles  of  government,  and  entering  into  the  minutest 
details  of  the  life  of  the  home  which  was  to  prepare  them  for 
the  combat  abroad.  The  difference  between  the  two  lawgivers 
is  striking.  The  Spartan,  after  mapping  out  the  life  political, 
military,  and  domestic,  for  each  member  of  his  state  for  all 
time,  is  said  to  have  bound  his  countrymen  to  obedience  to 
his  legislation  by  exacting  from  them  an  oath  that  they  would 
obey  it  at  least  till  his  return  home  from  an  intended  journey ; 
upon  which  the  lawgiver  exiled  himself  forever.  True  or 
false,  the  story  exactly  illustrates  what  Christ's  commonwealth 
was  not.  Lycurgus  left  laws  behind  him,  and  secured  them 
by  his  et(;rnal  ab.sence.  Christ  U^ft  no  laws  behind  him,  and  by 
his  last  will  and  testament  bequeathed  to  his  society  no 
code,  no  {^receipts,  no  .secret  charm  of  policy,  nothing  but  his 


I 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  425 

eternal  presence  in  the  hearts  of  his  followers.  This  was  his 
only  legacy,  —  himself  to  be  their  life  and  the  food  of  their 
souls. 

The  whole  world  was  to  be  henceforth  a  family,  a  brother- 
hood looking"  up  to  the  common  Father.  His  disciples  were 
not  to  be  able  to  look  upon  a  human  being  without  recogniz- 
ing in  him  a  brotherhood,  or  possibilities  of  brotherhood,  that 
pointed  up  to  the  Father  in  heaven.  No  legislation  of  a 
Lycurgus  could  be  more  exacting  than  the  demands  of  Jesus 
upon  every  department  of  the  life  of  his  followers.  Wherever 
they  went,  whatever  they  did,  they  carried  with  them  a  law, 
not  localized  or  limited  like  the  law  of  Moses,  but  ubiquitous, 
regulating  conduct  to  Gentiles  as  well  as  to  Jews,  and  extend- 
ing to  thought  and  word  as  well  as  deed.  This  law  was  his 
presence,  or  his  Spirit ;  and  it  was  pre-eminently  a  spirit  of 
brotherhood,  of  love,  of  fellowship.  By  his  disciples  this 
Spirit  was  so  familiarly  associated  with  the  feeling  of  fellow- 
ship, that,  when  they  prayed  for  its  presence,  they  habitually 
spoke  of  "  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit." 

The  very  simplicity  of  the  basis  which  Christ  laid  as  the 
foundation  for  his  future  society,  has  blinded  some  persons  to 
the  obvious  fact  that  he  was  the  greatest  social  reformer  that 
ever  lived.  So  far  from  contemplating  an  isolated  life  of 
contemplation  for  his  followers,  he  made  it  a  part  of  their 
religion  to  be  sociable.  There  is  not  one  of  his  precepts  that 
does  not  directly  or  indirectly  point  to  a  future  organization 
of  society,  and  does  not  make  war  against  the  principles  that 
would  disorganize  a  society.  All  this  he  so  takes  for  granted, 
that  he  does  not  think  it  worth  while  to  say  in  so  many  words, 
"  I  intend  to  reform  social  life  ;  "  but  the  constant  mention  of 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  of  the  Father  in  heaven  bears  witness 
to  the  social  aspect  in  which  he  always  regarded  mankind.  In 
every  point  it  might  be  shown  that  the  life  and  teachings  of 
Jesus  w^as  intended  to  supply  the  links  necessary,  just  at  that 
crisis  in  the  history  of  the  world,  to  re-unite  and  re-organize  a 
society  that  was  on  the  point  of  falling  to  pieces. 


426  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

When  Christ  came  into  the  world,  he  found  the  Pagan 
nations  worshipping  power.  They  had  worshipped  power 
under  the  form  of  polytheism  ;  they  were  now  drifting  into 
another  worship  of  it  under  the  form  of  imperialism.  Now, 
the  worship  of  might  is  a  sure  forerunner  of  the  decay  and 
disorganization  of  society ;  it  is  a  religion  of  conquerors,  not 
the  religion  of  a  peaceful  society.  Against  the  worship  of 
might,  therefore,  Jesus  set  up  the  worship  of  a  righteous 
Father  of  all  men. 

Especially  in  Christ's  treatment  of  the  law  of  JNIoses, 
does  he  appear  in  the  light  of  a  reformer  of  society.  Had 
he  been  bent  upon  founding  a  sect  of  hermits,  he  might  have 
been  expected  to  encourage  the  rigid  observance  of  sabbaths, 
fastings,  purifications,  and  the  like,  all  of  which,  by  fixing  the 
thouo-hts  on  the  divine  author  of  these  institutions,  mio-ht  be 
supposed  to  foster  contemplation  and  solitary  worship.  But 
Jesus  rejected  them  because  they  were  unsociable,  and  because 
they  hampered  the  free  and  healthy  intercourse  between  man 
and  man.  In  the  same  spirit  he  condemned  the  selfish 
moroseness  of  rich  men  who  suppose  the)'  have  no  responsi- 
bilities to  society,  he  condemns  violence,  he  inculcates  respect 
for  the  weak  and  lowly ;  and,  appealing  to  the  down-trodden 
classes  of  society,  he  calls  upon  them  to  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  the  strength  of  that  new  power  of  forgiveness  which 
he  had  introduced  into  the  world. 

The  absence  of  a  code  for  his  Church  was  not  only  a 
protest  on  the  part  of  Christ  against  the  literalism  of  the 
Jews,  but  was  also  necessary  for  the  transmission  of  his  organ- 
izing influence  to  the  future  society.  It  was  the  beauty  of 
Christ's  policy,  that  he  left  no  code  to  be  idolized,  distorted, 
and  disputed  about.  His  constructivencss  consisted  in  being 
what  he  was,  and  in  bequeathing  himself  to  his  disciples  as  a 
moral  force  for  all  posterity.  One  law  alone  he  left  to  the 
citizens  of  his  kingdom,  —  that  they  were  to  love  one  another 
as  they  loved  themselves ;  and,  having  inspired  them  with 
moral  power  to  carry  this  rule  into  effect,  he  left  all  details  of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  427 

execution  to  be  stated  by  the  countless  varieties  of  the  circum- 
stances of  the  future.  But  what  can  be  more  fundamentally 
social  than  Christ's  kingdom  of  God  ?  The  king  was  to  be  a 
Father  of  all  men  :  the  only  sign  of  citizenship,  and  the  only 
law  of  the  kingdom,  was  love. 

It  is  because  true  Christianity  is  so  very  reforming  a 
religion,  that  it  must  always  seem  to  be  visionary  and  unprac- 
tical ;  so  much  will  always  appear  remaining  to  be  done  by 
the  true  Christian  reformer.  After  eighteen  centuries  of 
Christianity  we  are  only  just  entering  upon  the  new  phase 
of  society  contemplated  by  Christ,  when  the  distinctions  of 
rich  and  poor,  powerful  and  weak,  shall  be,  not,  perhaps, 
obliterated,  but  at  least  consecrated,  to  the  good  of  the  com- 
munity. Slavery  has  been  abolished ;  duelling,  through  the 
indirect  influence  of  Christ,  has  been  greatly  diminished ;  but 
war  still  thrives,  unchristian  distinctions  are  still  kept  up 
between  rich  and  poor,  and  no  one  can  say  that  the  masses 
of  mankind  are  as  yet  placed  in  the  position  that  Christ  would 
claim  for  them.  Wherever  we  look,  we  find  Christ's  meas- 
ures of  reform  as  yet  only  imperfectly  carried  into  effect. 

"  Then  by  your  own  confession  Christ's  society  is  a  dream, 
and  has  never  yet  been  realized."  Certainly  it  has  not  yet 
been  realized,  and  probably  will  not  be  even  approximately 
realized  for  a  century  or  more,  perhaps  for  many  centuries  to 
come  ;  but  it  has  already  saved  mankind  from  ruin,  and  raised 
it  steadily  up  to  its  present  position.  Had  it  not  been  for 
Christ's  society,  the  framework  of  the  civilized  w^orld  would 
have  fallen  completely  to  pieces  after  the  fall  of  the  Roman 
empire.  It  is  not  sufficiently  recognized,  that  ancient  society 
was  absolutely  dependent  on  a  basis  of  wretchedness  and 
servitude.  For  every  free  citizen  of  Athens,  there  were  some 
half-dozen  or  more  of  slaves  ;  a  Roman  noble  in  the  time  of 
Christ  presupposed  a  whole  regiment  of  slaves.  If  any 
Roman  had  predicted,  in  the  time  of  Christ,  that  a  time  would 
come  when  this  foundation  of  misery  would  be  withdrawn, 
and    society  would    still    remain    intact   and    progressive,   he 


428  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

would  have  been  scoffed  at  by  his  countrymen  as  being  more 
fatuous  and  contemptible  than  even  a  professional  augur. 
But  Christ  has  effected  for  mankind  this  seeming  impossi- 
bility, and  has  effected  it  quietly,  without  "  servile  wars," 
without  bloody  revolutions.  Who,  then,  can  deny  to  Christ 
the  name  of  a  great  practical  reformer  ? 

It  may  be  said  indeed  that  even  in  modern  Christian  states 
this  inequality  of  happiness  still  remains.  Ev^en  now,  in  Eng- 
land, as  once  in  Greece  and  Rome,  "  good  society,  floating  on 
gossamer  wings  of  light  irony,  is  of  very  expensive  produc- 
tion ;  requiring  nothing  less  than  a  wide  and  arduous  national 
life  condensed  in  unfragrant  deafening  factories,  cramping 
itself  in  mines,  sweating  at  furnaces,  grinding,  hammering, 
weaving,  under  more  or  less  oppression  of  carbonic  acid,  — 
or  else,  spread  over  sheep-walks,  and  scattered  in  lonely 
houses  and  huts  on  the  clayey  or  chalky  corn-lands,  where  the 
rainy  days  look  dreary."  True  ;  but  it  is  the  merit  of  Christ's 
re-organization  of  mankind,  that  he  goes  down  to  the  lowest 
stratum  of  society,  and  exalts  it  in  two  ways.  On  the  one 
hand  he  appeals  to  it  directly,  by  consecrating  all  labor  and 
every  condition  of  life  as  equally  holy,  and  by  holding  out 
hopes  of  equal  future  blessedness  to  peasant  and  to  king ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  he  ameliorates  it  indirectly  by  making 
the  other  classes  of  society  uneasy  at  the  spectacle  of  their 
brethren  toiling  below  them. 

Old  Cato  recommended  his  countrymen  to  work  their 
decrepit  slaves  to  death  ;  but  the  Christian  spirit  of  humanity 
devotes  itself  unweariedly  to  the  discovery  of  inventions  for 
minimizing  the  hardships  of  toil,  and  of  late  years  the  Chris- 
tian spirit  of  iairness  and  justice  is  at  last  beginning  to  recog- 
nize the  rights  of  manual  labor  to  a  far  greater  share  in 
the  comforts  and  pleasures  and  culture  of  life.  Very  much 
more  will  be  done  in  this  direction  before  this  century  has 
passed  away :  but  even  as  things  are,  we  may  say  that  wher- 
ever the  spirit  of  Christian  fi^llowshij)  is  pres(Mit.  there  we  find 
life  and  progress  ;  wherever  it  is  absent,  there  we  fnid  decay. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  429 

Many  of  those  who  might  be  disposed  to  blame  the  tardy 
reahzation  of  Christ's  poHcy  would  probably  be  found  among 
those  who  believe  that  the  human  race  has  existed,  not  for  six 
thousand  years,  but  for  a  much  longer  period.  Those  who 
believe  in  the  fascinating  theory  of  evolution  can  better  afford 
to  wait  than  those  who  do  not.  If  it  took  so  many  thousand 
years  first  to  create  man,  and  then  to  develop  him  to  a  state 
fitting  him  even  to  receive  the  seed  of  the  spirit  of  brother- 
hood, surely  we  may  naturally  expect  that  a  few  thousands  of 
years  will  be  required  to  foster  and  rear  that  seed  into  a 
vigforous  life. 

Evolutionists  ou^ht  to  be  amonof  the  most  ardent  believers 
in  the  future  of  humanity,  and  the  most  patient  waiters  for  the 
development  of  Christ's  grand  scheme.  ^ 


FREDERICK    HENRY  HEDGE. 

[Christiamtv  and  Moderx  Thought.     Boston:  1S72.     Pp.  174-176.] 

The  mythical  interpretation  of  certain  portions  of  the 
Gospel  has  no  appreciable  bearing  on  the  character  of  Christ. 
The  impartial  reader  of  the  record  must  see  that  the  Evan- 
gelists did  not  invent  that  character ;  they  did  not  make  the 
Jesus  of  their  story :  on  the  contrar)',  it  was  he  that  made 
them.  It  is  a  true  saying,  that  only  a  Christ  could  invent  a 
Christ.  The  Christ  of  history  is  a  true  reflection  of  the  image 
which  Jesus  of  Nazareth  imprinted  on  the  mind  of  his  con- 
temporaries. In  that  image  the  spiritual  greatness,  the  moral 
perfection,  are  not  more  conspicuous  than  the  well-defined 
individuality  which  permeates  the  stor}',  and  which  no  genius 
could  invent. 

If  the  Christ  of  the  Church,  of  Christian  faith,  is,  as  some 
will  have  it,  an  ideal  being,  it  was  Jesus  of  Nazareth  who 
made  the  ideal.  The  ideal  in  him  is  simply  the  result  of  that 
disengagement  from  the  earthly  vestiture,  which  death  and 
distance  work  in  all  who  live  in  history.     By  the  very  neces- 


430  TESTIMONY  OF  NINE  TEEN  CENTURIES 

sity  of  its  function,  history  idealizes.  The  historic  figure  and 
individual  represented  by  it,  though  inseparably  one  in  sub- 
stance, are  not  so  identical  in  outline  that  the  one  exactly 
covers  the  other,  no  more  and  no  less.  The  individual  is  the 
bodily  presence  as  it  dwells  in  space;  the  historic  figure  is 
the  image  of  himself  which  the  individual  stamps  on  his  time, 
and,  so  far  as  his  record  reaches,  on  all  succeeding  time,  —  his 
import  to  human  kind.  That  image  is  a  veritable  portrait, 
but  not  in  the  sense  of  a  facsiviile.  A  material  portrait,  a 
portrait  painted  with  hands,  if  the  painter  understands  his 
art,  is  not  a  facsimile  :  it  presents  the  chronic  idea,  or  char- 
acteristic mode  ;  not  the  temporar}-  accidents,  the  fallings-off, 
the  vanishings,  of  the  person  portrayed.  In  the  hero-galleries 
of  tradition,  as  in  the  visions  of  the  Apocalypse,  they  are  seen 
with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands,  and  unwrinkled 
brows  of  grace,  w^ho  in  life  were  begrimed  with  the  dust  and 
furrowed  with  the  cares  of  their  time.  St.  Paul  is  there  with- 
out his  thorn  in  the  flesh  ;  Luther  without  his  impatience  ; 
Washington  without  his  fiery  choler;  Lincoln  without  his 
coarseness  ;  Dante  and  Milton  without  their  scorn.  History 
strips  off  the  indignities  of  earth  when  she  dresses  her  heroes 
for  immortality.  And  the  transfigurations  she  gives  us  are 
nearer  the  truth  than  the  limitations  of  ordinary  life.  The 
man  is  more  truly  himself  in  the  epic  strain  of  public  action, 
with  spirit  braced  and  harness  on,  than  in  the  subsidence 
and  undress  of  the  closet.  It  is  not  the  gossiping  anecdotes, 
the  spoils  of  the  ungirt  private  life,  so  dear  to  antiquaries  and 
literary  scavengers,  but  the  things  which  history  hastens  to 
record,  that  show  the  man.  We  must  take  the  life  at  full  tide; 
we  must  view  it  in  its  freest  determination,  in  its  supreme 
moment,  to  know  the  deepest  that  is  in  him.  And  the 
deepest  that  is  in  him  is  the  true  man.  That  is  his  idea,  his 
mission  to  the  world,  his  historic  significance.  It  is  this  that 
concerns  us  in  all  the  great  actors  of  history,  —  the  historic 
person,  not  the  individual.  And  the'more  the  historic  person 
absorbs  the   individual,   the   hi^rher  we   rise    in    the   scale   of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  43 1 

being,  until  we  reach  the  ideal  of  God,  from  which  all  individ- 
uality is  excluded,  and  only  the  person  remains,  filling-  space 
and  time  with  the  ceaseless  procession  of  his  being. 

We  misread  the  Gospel,  and  reverse  the  true  and  divine 
order,  if  we  suppose  the  ideal  Christ  to  be  an  essence  distilled 
from  the  historical.  On  the  contrary,  the  ideal  Christ  is  the 
root  and  ground  of  the  historical ;  and  without  the  antecedent 
idea  inspiring,  commanding,  the  history  would  never  have 
been. 


PHILLIPS    BROOKS. 

[The  Candle  of  the  Lord.     Sermons.     New  York :  18S1.     Pp.  260,  261.] 

Men  call  Christ  the  crown  of  manhood,  the  perfect  man  ; 
and  yet  they  need  a  book,  yea  many  books,  to  teach  them  that 
he  is  manly.  They  have  given  that  name  so  long  to  brilliant 
incompleteness,  that  they  find  it  hard  to  carry  it  over  to  the 
complete  life  when  it  appears.  The  name  of  manly  has 
become  a  certain  fixed,  definite  thing,  not  pliable  and  capable 
of  advancement  to  some  new  manifestation  of  what  is  worthiest 
of  man,  what  it  is  noblest  for  man  to  be.  This  seems  to  be 
the  real  state  of  the  case.  Men  own  that  the  human  charac- 
ter of  Christ  is  the  completest  human  character  the  world  has 
ever  seen,  and  yet  they  give  their  admiration  to  incomplete 
characters  ;  and,  not  yet  risen  to  the  full  revelation  of  the 
Lord,  they  call  that  manly  which  they  know  all  the  while  is 
something  less  than  the  full-orbed  attainment  of  the  perfect 
man. 


JOSEPH    BUTLER. 

[Analogy  of  Religion.     London  :  1868.     P.  247.] 

The  Son  of  God  loved  us,  and  gave  himself  for  us  with  a 
love  which  he  himself  compared  to  that  of  human  friendship ; 
though  in  this  case  all  comparisons  must  fall  infinitely  short 
of  the  thing  intended  to  be  illustrated  by  them. 


432  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

DAVID    SWING. 

[Truths  OF  To-D AY.     Chicago:  1874.    P.  75.] 

The  fact  that  the  Christian  Church  was  first  named  an 
ecclesia  points  out  not  obscurely  its  ideal  scope,  for  that  word 
had  for  hundreds  of  years  indicated  a  convention  of  the 
people. 

The  ecclesia  was  the  Greek  house  of  representatives,  — 
a  house  which  stood  as  a  check  upon  archons  and  senates,  a 
mediator  between  the  multitude  and  the  ambition  of  orators 
and  generals.  As  the  public  throng  was  called  by  heralds 
who  passed  along  from  street  to  street,  the  meeting  was  so 
named  "the  called  out,"  or  the  "ecclesia;"  and  from  such 
associations  it  has  descended  to  us.  Thus  all  the  parts  of 
Christianity  —  its  Christ,  its  apostles,  its  avowed  object,  its 
ignoring  states,  its  simplicity  of  doctrine,  and  its  very  Church 
name  —  confess  it  to  be  a  religion  for  the  whole  people,  and 
hence  nothing  but  a  holy  crusade  against  the  sins  of  the  wide 
world. 

Such  being  the  avowed  design  of  the  Founder  of  this 
religion,  we  who  profess  to  believe  it  are  in  the  path  of  duty 
only  when  we  are  in  sympathy  with  this  large  design,  and  are 
shaping  our  thoughts  and  feelings  and  actions  to  this  immense 
scope  of  the  Gospel.  We,  as  a  Christian  nation  and  as  pri- 
vate Christians,  are  here  to-day  in  what  religious  truth  we 
have,  only  because  the  religion  of  Palestine  assumed  the  form 
ot  a  mission  rather  than  of  a  local  faith.  Palestine  had  held 
its  Hebrew  ideas  for  two  thousand  years  without  having  sent 
outward  one  single  chapter  from  Isaiah  or  one  single  psalm 
from  David.  Wonderful  and  divine  as  was  the  deism  of  the 
Old  Testament  compared  with  the  polytheism  of  the  classic 
states,  and  sacred  as  were  the  hymns  of  the  temple  compared 
with  any  religious  songs  of  the  surrounding  lands,  yet  none 
of  th(;  theology  of  the  Hebrews  seems  to  have  broken  out  of 
its  national  confines  into  the  classic  world  ;  and  not  a  psalm 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  433 

of  David  seems  ever  to  have  sent  its  music  over  to  where 
Homer  held  a  harp,  or  to  where  Virgil  was  devoting  his  life 
to  a  chaste  and  an  elevated  poetry. 

Palestine  lay  beside  Greece  for  hundreds  of  years,  with 
only  a  fragment  of  the  Mediterranean  between  ;  and  yet  be- 
tween Athens  in  her  glory,  and  Jerusalem  in  her  almost  equal 
splendor,  no  exchange  of  creed  or  prayer  or  hymn  seems 
ever  to  have  taken  place.  What  thoughts  these  two  cities 
had  of  each  other  must  have  been  in  the  line  of  wondering 
when  the  armies  of  one  mio-ht  thunder  at  the  eates  of  the 
other.  The  active  idea  with  both  was  not  how  they  might 
spread  their  poetry,  or  their  psalms,  and  their  worship,  but 
how  they  might  advance  and  support  their  thrones. 

Born  into  such  a  spirit,  Christianity  would  have  remained 
in  Palestine,  just  as  Hebraism  had  remained  there.  But 
Christ  reversed  the  genius  of  religion.  He  separated  it  from 
state,  and  attached  it  to  man  as  a  citizen  of  the  world,  and 
moved  it  from  its  narrow  borders ;  and  from  that  hour  the 
Psalms  of  David  and  the  sono^s  of  the  new  Church  be^an  to 
cross  the  sea  by  every  wind  that  wafted  the  merchant's  ship. 
It  must  have  been  a  thrilling  passage  of  eloquence  when  one 
of  the  Roman  orators,  in  perhaps  the  second  century,  arose  in 
the  public  assembly,  and  said,  "  Your  altars  and  temples  are 
all  becoming  vacant,  your  laws  are  passing  away,  before  the 
laws  and  temple  of  this  Christ." 


JAMES    MARTINEAU. 

[Miscellanies.     Boston:  1S52.     P.  280.] 

The  grand  objects  of  the  physical  universe,  discernible 
from  every  latitude,  look  in  at  the  understanding  of  all  nations, 
and  secure  the  unity  of  science.  And  the  glorious  persons 
of  human  history,  imperishable  from  the  traditions  of  every 
civilized  people,  keeping  their  sublime  glance  upon  the  con- 
science of  ages,  create  the  unity  of  faith.     And    if  it   hath 


434  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

pleased  God  the  Creator  to  fit  up  one  system  with  one  sim, 
to  make  the  dayhght  of  several  worlds,  so  may  it  fitl)-  have 
pleased  God  the  Revealer  to  kindle  amid  the  ecliptic  of 
history  one  divine  Soul,  to  glorify  whatever  lies  within  the 
great  year  of  his  moral  providence,  and  represent  tlie  Father 
.  of  lights. 

The  exhibition  of  Christ  as  his  moral  image  has  maintained 

in  the  souls  of  men  a  common  spiritual  type,  to  correct  the 

aberrations  of  their  individuality,  to  unite  the  humblest  and 

the  highest,  to  merge  all  minds  into  one  family,  and  that  the 

^i  family  of  God. 

RICHARD    HOLT    HUTTON. 

[Theological  Essays.    London:  1871.   Vol.  i.  pp.  13S-140,  261,  267-269,  278,  282.] 

Christ  no  sooner  disappeared  from  the  earth,  than  all  the 
Christian  writers  began  to  dwell  far  more  on  the  new  strength 
he  had  revealed  within  them,  than  on  his  outward  life.  The 
interior  growth  of  the  divine  nature  thus  revealed  might  be 
called  new,  because  now  first  it  was  recognized  as  a  divine 
power,  as  a  power  inspiring  trust,  as  a  life  that  would  grow 
by  its  own  might  within  men  if  only  they  did  not  smother  it, 
and  were  content  to  restrain  their  own  lower  self  from  any 
voluntary  inroads  of  evil.  It  was  the  same  divinely  human 
nature  which  had  been  embodied  in  the  earthly  Christ,  that 
was  stirring  in  the  hearts  of  all  men.  It  was  he  whose  life 
had  been  so  strange  and  brief  a  miracle  of  beauty,  to  whom 
they  might  trust  to  mould  afresh  the  twisted  shapes  of  human 
imperfection,  to  push  forward  the  growth  of  the  good  seed 
and  the  eradication  of  the  tares  within  them. 

The  same  life  which  had  shed  its  healing  influence  over 
the  sick  and  sinful  in  Galilee  and  Juda?a,  was  but  the  human 
form  of  that  which  fostered  the  true  nature  beneath  the  false- 
hoods of  all  actual  life  and  the  world  within  the  disciples  as 
they  preached  their  risen  Lord.  It  was  not  they,  but  Christ 
that  worked  in  them.      1  lere  was  the  true  explanation  of  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  435 

unity  of  the  human  race,  the  common  life  which  was  the  source 
of  all  that  was  deep  and  good,  as  separating-  influences  irrcw 
out  of  all  that  was  profoundly  evnl.  Men  were  all  members  of 
Christ ;  his  nature  was  in  them  all,  drawing  out  the  beauty,  and 
destroying  the  deformity,  breathing  the  breath  of  universal 
charity,  and  kindling  the  flame  of  inextinguishable  hope.   .   .   . 

The  essential  difference,  the  only  essential  diflerence, 
between  the  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  of  any  human 
being,  seems  to  me  to  be  that  his  free  will  was  always  fas- 
tened, so  to  speak,  on  that  of  God  ;  so  that,  though  he  felt 
temptation,  the  predominant  passion  of  his  will  (if  it  is  legiti- 
mate to  apply  such  a  word  as  passion  to  a  fountain  of  perfect 
freedom)  prevented  the  slightest  trembling  in  the  balance; 
while  the  free  will  of  all  other  men  is  intrinsically  indifferent, 
and  needs  a  divine  countervailing  force  to  aid  it  in  escaping 
from  the  solicitations  of  human  temptation.  And  Christ,  in 
revealing  the  perfectly  filial  will,  revealed  it  as  a  power,  in  the 
protecting  shadow  of  which,  and  by  the  sympathy  with  which, 
we  might  also  escape  the  sin  which  he  understood  but  never 
experienced.  It  was  not  as  an  example,  but  as  the  very 
source  of  the  divine  light  which  was  to  stream  into  us,  that 
his  lite  was  revealed.  What  the  incarnate  word  was  in  him, 
tJiat  it  would  have  the  power  to  make  us,  if  we  would  but 
yield  ourselves  up  absolutely  to  its  guidance.  In  point  of 
limitations,  temptations,  frailties,  his  life  was  no  better  than 
ours.  The  will  alone  was  better,  intrinsically  better ;  and 
that  will  would  ingraft  itself  on  ours,  and  guide  and  sway 
us,  if  we  would  but  surrender  the  reins. 

I  cannot  open  a  page  of  the  Gospels  without  finding  in 
Christ  a  complete  absence  of  that  self-reproach  which  we 
identify  with  humility,  but  which  only  belongs  to  it  aniong 
imperfect  and  sinful  men;  and  yet  the  fullest  presence  of  that 
filial  humility  which  recognized  dependence  on  the  Father 
as  the  true  law  and  spirit  of  life,  which  lived  in  the  will  of 
another,  and  yet  concurred  freely  in  that  will.  Now,  this 
combination  seems  to  me,  and  is,  I  believe,  unique  in  history. 


436  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Wherever  we  find  deep  humility  amongst  men,  it  is  accom- 
panied by  self-distrust  and  self-accusations,  as  in  the  case 
of  St.  Paul.  Wherever  we  find  tranquil  self-reliance,  it  is 
unaccompanied  by  the  dependent  and  filial  spirit ;  it  is  found, 
if  at  all,  in  some  Goethe,  standing  with  serene  brow  above  the 
clouds  of  human  sorrow  and  weakness  :  — 

"  He  took  the  suffering  human  race, 
He  read  each  wound,  each  weakness  clear : 
He  struck  his  finger  on  the  place, 
And  said,  '  Thou  ailest  here  and  here.' 
He  looked  on  Europe's  dying  hour 
Of  fitful  dreams  and  feverish  power, 
And  said,  'The  end  is  everywhere. 
Art  still  has  truth,  take  refuge  there.' 
And  he  was  happy —  if  to  know 
Causes  of  things,  and  far  below 
His  feet  to  see  the  lurid  flow 
Of  trouble,  and  insane  distress, 
And  headlong  fate,  be  happiness." 

Such  is  the  attitude  of  the  most  complete  human  self- 
adequacy  ;  but  it  was  not  the  attitude  of  Christ,  who  proclaims 
to  us  everywhere,  "  I  am  come  in  my  Father's  name,  and  ye 
receive  me  not ;  if  another  shall  come  in  his  own  name,  him 
ye  will  receive." 

And  it  seems  to  me  that  this  unique  combination  of  child- 
like lowliness  with  perfect  kingliness,  and  serenity  of  con- 
science, extorts  a  witness  to  it  from  human  nature  which  is 
equally  unique.  We  say  to  our  hearts,  This  is  not  an  inde- 
pendent will,  but  a  filial  will ;  and  yet  this  is  not  an  imperfect, 
sinful  man,  but  one  who  shares  the  eternal  life  of  the  Father 
whom  he  reveals. 

The  ultimate  distinction  between  Christ's  human  nature 
and  our  own  lay  not,  it  seems  to  me,  in  any  exemption  from 
human  iornorance,  sensitiveness,  temptation,  but  in  the  ulti- 
mate divinity  of  his  free  will,  which  moulded  itself  according 
to   the    leather's   will   without   a   moment's    trembling    in    the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  437 

balance.  Of  the  perfect  concord,  perfect  submissiveness, 
perfect  dependence  of  this  will,  he  himself  was  aware  ;  and  this 
gave  him  his  tone  of  authority  towards  man.  But  God's  pur- 
pose was  often  concealed  from  him  on  earth :  he  could  discern 
only  the  general  outline  of  his  destiny,  and  this  only  w^ith  the 
fitful  uncertainty  of  that  prophetic  prescience  which  estimates 
perfectly  the  evil  and  the  good,  and  yet  can  hardly  bring 
itself  to  believe  in  any,  even  temporary,  triumph  of  evil.  "  If  it 
be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me  :  nevertheless,  not  as  I 
will,  but  as  thou  wilt,"  is  surely  the  highest  expression  of  a 
perfect  filial  will,  full  of  humility,  but  wholly  untouched  by 
humiliation. 

Surely  all  the  expansive  power  of  Christianity,  all  that 
adapts  it  to  the  purpose  of  the  ages,  has  been  directly  due  to 
the  faith  in  a  "  light  which  lighteth  ever)^  man  which  cometh 
into  the  W'Orld,"  and  in  the  incarnation  of  that  light  in  the 
human  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Without  this  belief  in 
the  inward  light,  the  reverence  paid  to  the  external  life  is  a 
mere  idolatry ;  without  the  belief  in  the  external  incarnation, 
the  inward  light  is  too  apt  to  nourish  human  conceit  and 
pantheistic  dreams.  And  I  cannot  understand  the  histor}'  of 
the  Christian  Church  at  all,  if  all  the  fervent  trust  which  has 
been  stirred  by  faith  in  the  actual  inspirations  of  a  nature  at 
once  eternal  and  human,  has  been  lavished  on  a  dream.  .   .  . 

Now,  let  me  honestly  ask  myself,  and  answer  the  question 
as  truly  as  I  can,  whether  this  great,  this  stupendous  fact  of 
the  incarnation,  is  honestly  believable  by  an  ordinary  man 
of  modern  times,  who  has  not  been  educated  into  it,  but 
educated  to  distrust  it ;  who  has  no  leaning  to  the  orthodox 
creed,  as  such,  but  has  generally  preferred  to  associate  with 
heretics  ;  who  is  quite  alive  to  the  force  of  the  scientific  and 
literary  criticisms  of  his  day  ;  who  has  no  antiquarian  tastes, 
no  predilection  for  the  venerable  past,  wdio  does  not  regard 
this  truth  as  a  part  of  a  great  system,  dogmatic  or  ecclesias- 
tical, but  merely  for  itself;  who  is,  in  a  word,  simply  anxious 
to  take  hold,  if  he  so  may,  of  any  divine  hand  stretched  out  to 


438  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

help  him  through  the  excitement  and  the  languor,  the  joy,  the 
sorrow,  the  storm  and  sunshine,  of  this  unintelligible  life. 
Froni  my  heart  I  answer,  yes,  —  believable,  and  more  than 
believable,  in  any  mood  in  which  we  can  rise  above  ourselves 
to  that  supernatural  Spirit  which  orders  the  unruly  wills  and 
affections  of  sinful  man  ;  more  than  believable,  I  say,  because 
it  so  vivifies  and  supplements  that  fundamental  faith  in  God, 
as  to  realize  what  were  else  abstract,  and,  without  dissolving 
the  mystery,  to  clothe  eternal  love  with  breathing  life. 


HOWARD    CROSBY. 

[The  True  Humanity  of  Christ.     New  York  :  i8So.     Pp.  lo,  13.] 

The  conversation  of  Jesus  was  eminently  practical,  having 
cognizance  of,  and  relation  to,  the  many-sided  duties  and  inci- 
dents of  daily  life.  There  were  no  assumptions  of  higher 
knowledge  or  higher  rank ;  there  was  nothing  haughty  or 
supercilious  in  his  demeanor,  no  affected  distance  in  manner 
and  habits,  no  inshrouding  of  his  person  in  mystery. 

There  never  was  a  public  character  so  devoid  of  the  charac- 
teristics of  enthusiasm,  if  we  use  the  word  in  the  sense  of  a 
self-deceiving  and  unbalanced  zeal.  Much  more  is  it  impossi- 
ble to  find  in  his  life  the  first  trace  of  imposture.  A  life  of 
poverty  and  self-denial,  carefully  repelling  any  efforts  made  by 
others  for  his  aggrandizement,  refusing  to  take  advantage  of 
the  full  tide  of  public  sentiment  running  in  his  favor,  promising 
no  earthly  portion  but  persecution  to  his  followers,  seeking 
neither  admiration  nor  support,  and  looking  forward  to  a 
painful  death,  —  such  a  life  has  not  a  feature  that  does  not 
prove  the  charge  of  imposture  and  absurdity.  An  impostor 
is  self-seeking,  rules  his  victims,  assumes  a  Delphic  air.  and  is 
afraid  to  expose  himself  to  public  scrutiny.  Compare 
Mohammed  with  Jesus,  and  see  how  different  they  appear. 
The  contrast  brings  out  the  truthfulness  of  our  Saviour's 
life.   .  .  . 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  439 

Internal  and  external  evidences  thus  conspire  to  give 
every  thoughtful  and  reasonable  man  implicit  confidence  in 
the  words  of  Jesus.  Whatever  the  Jesus  of  Strauss  or  the 
Jesus  of  Renan  may  be,  the  Jesus  of  the  Gospels  is  the  em- 
bodiment of  truth.  To  refuse  allegiance  to  him  and  his  words 
is  to  stultify  one's  reason,  and  to  dishonor  one's  manhood. 
It  is  to  deny  the  sun  in  the  heavens,  and  swear  that  white  is 
black.  A  man  who  rejects  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  has  no 
right  to  believe  any  thing.  He  is  an  outcast  from  order,  an 
eternal  denizen  of  chaos. 


A.    M.   FAIRBAIRN. 

[Studies  in  the  Life  of  Christ.     New  York  :  1882.     Pp.  i,  2,  4.] 

The  greatest  problems  in  the  field  of  history  centre  in  the 
person  and  life  of  Christ.  Who  he  was,  what  he  was,  how 
and  why  he  came  to  be  it,  are  questions  that  have  not  lost  and 
will  not  lose  their  interest  with  and  for  mankind.  For  the 
problems  that  centre  in  Jesus  have  this  peculiarity  :  they  are 
not  individual,  but  general ;  concern  not  a  person,  but  the 
world.  How  we  are  to  judge  him,  is  not  simply  a  curious 
point  for  historical  criticism,  but  a  vital  matter  for  religion. 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  most  powerful  spiritual  force  that  ever 
operated  for  good  on  and  in  humanity.  He  is  to-day  what 
he  has  been  for  centuries,  —  an  object  of  reverence  and  love 
to  the  good ;  the  cause  of  remorse  and  change,  penitence  and 
hope  to  the  bad ;  of  moral  strength  to  the  morally  weak ;  of 
inspiration  to  the  despondent,  consolation  to  the  desolate,  and 
cheer  to  the  dying.  He  has  created  the  typical  virtues  and 
moral  ambitions  of  civilized  man  ;  has  been  to  the  benevolent 
a  motive  to  beneficence,  to  the  selfish  a  persuasion  to  self- 
forgetful  obedience ;  and  has  become  the  living  ideal  that 
steadied  and  raised,  awed  and  guided  youth,  braced  and 
ennobled  manhood,  mellowed  and  beautified  age. 

It  is  impossible  to  touch  Jesus  without  touching  millions 


440  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

of  hearts  now  living  or  yet  to  live.  He  is,  whatever  else  he 
may  be,  a  world's  imperishable  wonder,  a  world's  everlasting 
problem,  a  pre-eminent  object  of  faith,  a  pre-eminent  subject 
of  human  thought.   .  .   . 

The  historical  person  of  Christ  is  at  once  the  basis  and 
source  of  the  Christian  religion.  He  made  it,  he  is  it.  Its 
distinctive  and  essential  elements  are  elements  that  can  be 
found  in  him.  Whatever  cannot  be  found  there,  belongs  to 
its  accidents,  not  to  its  essence.  And  so,  the  better  we  know 
him,  the  better  we  know  our  faith  ;  the  more  he  is  made  a 
reality  to  heart  and  mind,  the  more  will  it  be  the  same.  He 
who  best  knows  Christ  is  the  best  Christian. 


MARVIN    R.    VINCENT. 

[Faith  and  Character.     New  York:  1880.     Pp.  46,  47.] 

I  STATE  a  fact,  let  it  be  accounted  for  as  it  may,  that  a  man 
who  thinks  at  all  can  hardly  be  in  contact  with  nineteenth- 
century  civilization,  and  not  be  compelled  to  think  of  Christ. 
All  attempts  to  banish  him  into  the  region  of  remote  history 
are  in  vain.  The  age  has  gotten  past  other  men.  Plato, 
Socrates,  Caesar,  Alexander,  Homer,  and  Virgil,  all  confessedly 
great  men,  are  yet  instinctively  felt  to  belong  to  the  past.  But 
the  age  does  not  get  past  Christ.  He  is  as  distinctly,  yea 
more  distinctly,  a  fact  of  the  nineteenth  century  than  of  the 
first.  In  a  hundred  different  ways  he  appears  in  the  philoso- 
phy, the  politics,  the  social  science,  the  statesmanship,  the 
language,  the  ordinary  customs,  of  the  present  time.  He  is 
historical,  but  he  is  more  than  historical.  .  .  . 

Christ  is  in  the  way  of  the  nineteenth  century.  He  cannot 
be  waived  out  of  the  way,  nor  argued  out  of  the  way,  nor 
driven  out  of  the  way,  nor  ignored.  He  must  be  confronted 
and  dealt  with,  no  matter  how  many  Pilates  desire  to  wash 
their  hands  of  him.  He  was  a  troublesome  fact  in  his  own 
time,  but  the  trouble  has  taken  on  a  thousand  new  forms  since 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  44 1 

that.  His  own  time  dealt  with  him  at  last,  and  thought  it  had 
gotten  him  safely  out  of  the  way ;  but  the  resurrection  disap- 
pointed its  hopes,  and  Christ,  being  raised  from  the  dead,  has 
been  proving  to  every  succeeding  age  that  he  dieth  no  more  ; 
and  an  age  that  is  annoyed  by  his  presence,  and  stirred  into 
opposition  by  his  power,  is  yet  forced  to  hear,  with  chagrin, 
the  words  so  dear  to  his  disciples :  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway, 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 


JOHN   TAULER. 

[Sermons.     Boston:  1878.     P.  130.] 

Now,  as  the  loadstone  draws  the  iron  after  itself,  so  doth 
Christ  draw  all  hearts  after  himself  which  once  have  been 
touched  by  him  ;  and  as,  when  the  iron  is  impregnated  with 
the  energy  of  the  loadstone  that  has  touched  it,  it  follows 
the  stone  up-hill,  although  that  is  contrary  to  its  nature,  and 
cannot  rest  in  its  own  proper  place,  but  strives  to  rise  above 
itself  on  high  ;  so  all  the  souls  which  have  been  touched  by 
this  loadstofie,  Christ,  can  neither  be  chained  down  by  joy  nor 
grief,  but  are  ever  rising  up  to  God  out  of  themselves.  They 
forget  their  own  nature,  and  follow  after  the  touch  of  God; 
and  follow  it  the  more  easily  and  directly,  the  more  noble  is 
their  nature  than  that  of  other  men. 


PROTAP    CHUNDER   MOZOOMDAR. 

[The  Oriental  Christ.     Boston  :  1883.     Pp.  42-46.] 

To  be  able  to  illustrate  more  fully  the  distinctions  which 
may  be  said  to  exist  between  Eastern  and  Western  concep- 
tions of  Christ,  let  us  place  side  by  side  two  strongly  marked 
characters.  One  of  them  is  an  elaborately  learned  man,  versed 
in  all  the  principles  of  theology.  His  doctrine  is  historical, 
exclusive,   arbitrary,   opposed    to    the    ordinary  instincts    and 


442  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

natural  common  sense  of  mankind.  He  insists  upon  plenary 
inspiration,  becomes  stern  over  forms,  imports  institutions 
foreiofn  to  the  o-enius  of  the  continent,  and,  in  case  of  non- 
compliance  with  whatever  he  lays  down,  condemns  men  to 
eternal  darkness  and  death.  He  continually  talks  of  blood 
and  fire  and  hell.  He  considers  innocent  babes  as  the 
progeny  of  deadly  sin;  he  hurls  invectives  at  other  men's  faith, 
however  truly  and  conscientiously  held.  No  sacred  notions 
are  sacred  to  him  unless  he  has  tauo^ht  them.  All  self-sacrifice 
which  he  does  not  understand  is  delusion  to  him.  All 
scriptures  are  false  which  have  grown  up  outside  of  his 
dispensation,  climate,  and  nationality.  He  will  revolutionize, 
denationalize,  and  alienate  men  from  their  kith  and  kin. 
Wherever  he  goes,  men  learn  to  beware  of  him.  He  is  toler- 
ated only  because  he  carries  with  him  the  imperial  prestige  of 
a  conquering  race.  Can  this  be  the  Christ  that  will  save 
India? 

By  his  side  place  another  figure.  He  is  simple,  natural. 
He  is  a  stranger  to  the  learning  of  books.  Out  of  the 
untaught  impulses  of  his  soul  he  speaks,  and  when  he  speaks 
nations  bow  their  head.  His  voice  is  a  song  of  glory;  his 
sentiments  are  the  visions  of  a  heaven  in  which  all  men  are 
united  by  love.  His  doctrines  are  the  simple  utterances 
about  a  fatherhood  which  embosoms  all  the  children  of  men, 
and  a  brotherhood  which  makes  all  the  races  of  the  world  one 
great  family.  The  sinful  and  the  sorrow-stricken,  the  ignorant 
and  the  unwise,  the  publicans  and  the  harlots,  the  very  dregs 
and  refuse  of  mankind,  he  draws  around  him.  What  he 
touches  he  purifies,  but  the  touch  of  no  impurity  can  taint  the 
light  oi  holiness  in  him.  The  fountains  of  righteousness  he 
drinks  as  they  How  from  heaven.  The  profoundcst  wisdom 
and  holiness  come  to  him  as  comes  natural  breath  to  us.  The 
unspeakable  peace  of  God  descends  upon  his  soul  as  showers 
descend  upon  the  thirsty  soil.  What  is  invisible  to  others  is 
seen  as  da\Iight  b)-  him.  The?  music  that  no  mortal  can  hear, 
the  celestial  music  of  the  union  of  spirit  with  spirit,  filleth  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  443 

expanse  of  his  nature.  His  every  word  is  a  revelation,  and 
he  bcholdeth  revelation  among  all  nations  and  amid  all  faiths. 
His  love  invites  men  to  rest  and  reward.  His  presence  is  the 
presence  of  all  that  is  good  and  loving.  His  memory  is  a 
benediction  to  all.  His  institutions  are  the  simplest  forms  of 
instinctive  love  and  remembrance,  and  his  service  is  the 
affectionate  labor  of  self-devoted  faith.  All  lands  echo  his 
teaching ;  all  nations  respond  to  his  mystical  utterances  about 
heaven  and  earth. 

Wherever  he  treads,  flowers  spring  under  his  feet.  Wher- 
ever he  stands,  all  sorrow  and  self-complaint  are  hushed.  His 
long  uncut  locks  of  hair,  in  which  the  pure  zephyr  of  the 
mountain  plays ;  his  trailing  garments  of  seamless  white, 
whose  touch  the  diseased  and  sinful  eagerly  long  for  ;  his 
beautiful  feet  washed  with  precious  ointments,  and  wiped  with 
women's  hair  ;  his  self-immersed  air,  —  absent  eyes,  bright- 
ened forehead,  which  shows  that  his  spirit  is  far  away 
communing  with  beings  we  do  not  see,  —  point  him  out  to  be 
the  prophet  of  the  East,  the  sweet  Jesus  of  the  Galilsean  lake, 
whom  we  still  see  in  our  hearts.  The  testimony  of  his  life 
and  death  makes  heavenly  realities  tenfold  more  real  to  us. 
His  patience  and  meekness  in  suffering  are  like  an  everlasting 
rock,  which  we  may  hold  by  when  tossed  in  the  tempest  of 
life.  His  poverty  has  sanctified  the  home  of  the  poor;  his 
love  of  healing  fills  the  earth  with  innumerable  works  of 
benevolence  and  sympathy,  and  fills  with  wonderful  hope  the 
bedside  of  the  sick  and  dying.  His  death  and  resurrection 
call  us  to  the  mansions  where  he  has  gone  to  wait  for  us. 

Throughout  the  Eastern  world,  the  perfume  of  his  faith 
and  devotion  has  spread.  The  wild  genius  of  Mohammed 
knew  and  adored  him  amid  the  sands  of  Arabia.  The  tender, 
love-intoxicated  soul  of  Hafiz  revelled  in  the  sweetness  of 
Christ's  piety  amid  the  rosebuds  and  nightingales  of  Persia. 
And  here,  too,  in  India,  though  latest  and  most  backward, 
we  Aryans  have  learned  to  enshrine  him  in  the  heart  of  our 
philosophy,  in  the  core  of  our  exuberant  love.     Look  at  this 


444  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

picture  and  that.  This  is  the  Christ  of  the  East,  and  that  of 
the  West.  Very  true  that  the  pictures  are  extreme,  and  there 
are  men  in  the  West  with  an  Eastern  imagination,  as  there  are 
Orientals  who  have  inherited  the  coldness  and  hardness  of 
Europe.  But  when  we  speak  of  an  Eastern  Christ,  we  speak 
of  the  incarnation  of  unbounded  love  and  grace ;  and  when 
we  speak  of  the  W^estern  Christ,  we  speak  ot  the  incarnation 
of  theology,  formalism,  ethical  and  physical  force.  Christ,  we 
know,  is  neither  of  the  East  nor  of  the  West ;  but  men  have 
localized  what  God  meant  to  make  universal. 


BERNHARD    WEISS. 

[The  Life  of  Christ.     Edinburgh:  1S83.     Vol.  i.  pp.  353,  354.] 

When  Jesus  asks,  "  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin  ?" 
(John  viii.  46) ,  nothing  more  can  be  inferred  from  the  silence  of 
his  adversaries,  than  that  his  public  life  was  free  from  reproach. 
But  if  he,  who  so  often  accused  the  pattern  men  of  his  time  of 
hypocrisy,  makes  use  of  this  evident  external  blamelessness 
of  his  to  deduce  from  it  a  sinlessness  which  would  oruarantee 
his  truthfulness,  he  was  either  more  wicked  than  any  h\pocrite 
scourged  by  him,  or  he  must  have  been  conscious  that  the 
most  hidden  recesses  of  his  heart  and  life,  as  well  as  his  out- 
ward walk  and  conversation,  were  free  from  reproach.   .  .  . 

He  demands  repentance  from  all  men  ;  he  takes  for  granted 
that  they  are  all  evil  by  nature,  and  he  teaches  them  to  pray 
daily  for  the  forgiveness  of  their  debts.  But  there  never 
appears  in  himself  the  slightest  trace  of  any  feeling  of  repent- 
ance ;  no  prayer  for  forgiveness  issues  from  his  lips  ;  he  never 
gives  expression  to  the  consciousness  of  in  an\"  way  enjo\ing 
for  the  first  time  a  peace  with  God.  He  is  and  remains  the 
Son  of  God,  the  one  who  is  conscious  of  the  love  of  his 
heavenly  Father,  while  all  others  must  become  such.  He  sets 
himself  over  against  the  whole  sinful  world,  as  its  Redeemer, 
yea,  even  ultimately  as  its  Judge. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  445 

These  are  facts  which  no  criticism  can  shake.  They  speak 
for  themselves.  The  dilemma  is  one  from  which  there  is  no 
escape.  He  who  has  removed  from  us  all  the  bandage  of 
self-deception  and  of  self-righteousness,  who  has  taught  us  all 
to  seek  forgiveness  where  it  is  to  be  found,  he  was  either  the 
chief  of  sinners,  for  self-righteous  pride  is  the  root  and  climax 
of  all  sin,  or  he  was  the  only  sinless  one  upon  whose  life 
rested  the  peace  of  God.  Not  because  he  knew  not  the 
temptation  and  the  conflict  without  which  no  man  can  reach 
the  summit  of  moral  perfection,  but  because  he  approved  him- 
self in  every  temptation,  and  gained  the  victory  in  every 
conflict.  Thus  he  became  that  which  he  would  not  be  called 
until  the  trial  of  his  life  was  accomplished:  he  became  the 
absolutely  good,  the  image  of  his  Father  in  heaven. 


ELISHA   MULFORD. 

[The  Republic  of  God.     Boston:  1882.     P.  146.] 

The  perfect  manifestation  of  righteousness  is  in  the  person 
of  the  Christ.  The  law  of  righteousness  is  not  abstract :  it 
is  manifested  in  the  realization  of  personality,  and  in  the  life 
and  relations  of  men  in  the  world.  It  is  in  a  life  in  which 
there  is  the  consciousness  of  perfect  unity  with  man,  and 
which  becomes  in  itself  the  perfect  realization  of  the  truth. 

The  life  of  Jesus  the  Christ  was  not  simply  a  sinless  life, 
with  the  negative  quality  that  it  was  without  sin.  It  was 
that,  but  it  was  of  a  positive  ethical  quality.  It  was  not 
alone  the  representation,  the  mere  bodying-forth,  of  a  perfect 
ethical  character,  a  phenomenon  of  excellence,  a  simular  of 
virtue ;  but  it  was  the  manifestation  of  a  life  in  the  realization 
of  a  perfect  righteousness  in  perfect  unity  with  man.  It  was 
a  life  that  was  wrought  through  the  trial  of  earth,  in  the 
realization  of  righteousness.  It  was  a  real  conflict,  and  a  real 
victory. 


446  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 


ENCYCLOPEDIA    BRITANNICA. 

[Ninth  edition,  vol.  xiii.  pp.  6So,  68i.     Article  Jesus  Christ.] 

The  transcendent  power  of  his  personality  is  due,  not  only 
to  his  devotion  and  self-sacrifice,  but  to  his  absolute  sinless- 
ness.  This  constitutes  the  unique  character  of  his  individ- 
uality. He  alone  of  mankind  has  claimed  to  be  sinless,  and 
has  had  the  claim  granted  by  unanimous  consent,  both  in  his 
lifetime  and  in  subsequent  ages.  He  alone  among  men  has 
never  even  been  assailed  by  the  breath  of  moral  calumny, 
and  never,  even  in  his  most  sacred  utterances  and  prayers, 
betrayed  the  faintest  consciousness  of  any  evil  as  present  in 
his  soul.  He  therefore  alone  has  furnished  mankind  with  a 
perfect  ideal.  .  .  . 

Nor  was  his  teaching  less  unique  than  his  personality.  It 
was  marked  by  a  tone  of  sovereign  authority:  "Ye  have 
heard  that  was  said;  but, I  say  unto  you."  In  this  it  was  the 
very  opposite  of  the  teaching  of  his  own  day,  and  of  centuries 
afterwards,  which  relied  exclusively  upon  precedent.  It  was 
also  marked  by  absolute  originality.  The  test  of  its  originality 
is  the  world's  acceptance  of  it  as  specifically  his.  Isolated 
fragments  of  it  may  be  conipared  with  truths  uttered  by 
others  ;  but  it  stands  alone  in  its  breadth  and  in  its  power,  in 
its  absence  of  narrow  exclusiveness  and  scholastic  system  and 
abstract  speculation.  It  was  fresh,  simple,  abounding  in  illus- 
trations at  once  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  intelligible, 
drawn  from  all  the  common  sights  and  sounds  of  nature,  and 
all  the  daily  incidents  and  objects  of  social  and  domestic  life. 
It  flowed  forth  without  reserve  to  all  and  on  every  fitting 
occasion,  —  on  the  road,  on  the  hillside,  on  the  lake,  or  by 
the  lonely  well,  or  at  the  banquet,  whether  of  the  Pharisee  or 
of  the  publican.  Expressed  in  the  form  of  parables,  it  has 
seized  the  imagination  of  mankind  with  a  force  and  tenacity 
which  is  not  distantly  ap|)roached,  even  b)-  the  sacred  writers  ; 
and  even  when  not  directly  parabolic,  it  was  so  full  of  pictur- 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  447 

esqueness  and  directness  that  there  is  not  one  recorded 
sentence  of  it  which  has  not  been  treasured  up  in  the  memory 
of  mankind. 

His  utterances  not  only  rival  and  surpass  all  that  preceded 
and  all  that  has  followed  them,  but  they  complement  all 
beginnings.  Sometimes  they  consist  of  short  suggestive 
sayings,  full  of  depth,  yet  free  from  all  affectation  or  obscur- 
ity, which  make  even  what  is  most  mysterious  and  spiritual 
humanly  perceptible,  throwing  over  it  the  glamour  both  of 
poetry  and  of  a  longing  presentiment,  and  incessantly  enticing 
man  towards  something  yet  higher.  There  is  never  in  them 
a  lurking  fallacy  nor  a  superfluous  w^ord  ;  but  all  is  vivacity, 
nature,  intelligibility,  directly  enlightening  grace,  intended 
only  to  convince  and  to  save. 

And  while  such  was  the  incomparable  form  of  his  teaching, 
its  force  was  even  more  remarkable.  It  is  all  centred  in  the 
two  great  truths  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brother- 
hood of  man.  From  the  former  springs  every  truth  of  theol- 
ogy ;  from  the  latter,  every  application  of  morals.  Judaism 
had  sunk  into  a  religion  of  hatreds  ;  the  one  message  of  Jesus 
was  love.  In  this  he  differs  even  from  John  the  Baptist,  and 
the  prophets.     "Their  emblem  is  the  stars;  his,  the  sun."  .  .  . 

As  regards  the  work  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  Christian  believer 
contemplates  it  in  that  aspect  in  which  it  is  presented  by  St. 
Paul  as  a  work  of  atonement,  the  redemption  of  a  guilty  soul ; 
but  even  apart  from  this,  the  mere  historical  student  must 
admit  that  Christ  elevated  both  the  individual  and  the  race 
as  none  have  ever  done  before  or  since.  His  doctrine  purified 
the  world  from  the  loathly  degradation  of  lust  and  luxury  into 
which  society  had  fallen.  By  convincing  men  of  the  inherent 
dignity  of  manhood,  he  added  to  the  value  of  human  life. 
He  made  holiness  a  common  possession.  Heathen  morality 
had  reached  its  highest  point  in  the  Stoic  philosophy.  But 
Stoicism  was  scornful,  ineffectual,  despairing ;  and  Christ  gave 
a  moral  system  infinitely  more  perfect,  more  hopeful,  and 
more  tender  to  all  mankind. 


448  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

To  him  is  alone  due  the  Christian  significance  of  such 
words  as  "charity,"  "humiHty,"  and  "humanity."  He  first 
taught  the  sacredness  of  the  body  as  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  He  has  inspired  the  aims  of  the  highest  culture ;  while 
at  the  same  time  he  has  restored  the  souls  of  men,  and  made 
the  care  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  being  the  supreme  end  of 
life.  The  gradual  emancipation  of  the  world  from  the  tyran- 
nies of  sensuality,  cruelty,  and  serfdom,  has  been  w^on  step 
after  step  from  his  principles.  The  supremacy  of  the  spiritual, 
the  solidarity  of  nations,  the  universality  of  God's  love,  the 
essential  equality  of  all  men  in  his  sight,  are  but  a  few  of  the 
great  and  fruitful  conceptions  which  have  sprung  directly  from 
his  teaching,  and  w-hich  still  have  an  unexhausted  force  to 
bring  about  in  ever-increasing  measure  the  amelioration  of 
the  world. 


JOHN   CAIRNS. 


[Christ  the  Central  Evidence  of  Christianity.     From  the  Journal  of  Christian 
Philosophy,  October,  1SS2.     Pp.  56,  60,  70.] 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  apparent  to  friend  and  foe 
in  the  oreat  struoro-le  between  Christian  faith  and  doubt,  that 
the  key  of  the  position  is  the  person  of  Christ  himself;  and 
that  so  long  as  the  obvious  meaning  of  the  Gospel  narrative 
as  to  the  life,  character,  and  work  of  that  grand  central  figure 
can  be  accepted  as  "  fact,  and  not  delusion,"  no  weapon  lifted 
against  Christianity  can  prevail.  It  is  a  presumption  of  truth 
in  any  system  to  have  a  centre  ;  and  I  now  propose  to  show, 
confining  attention  chiefly  to  the  Four  Gospels,  that  the  life 
of  Christ  as  there  exhibited  is  a  reality,  and  is  so  fitted  to 
bind  all  the  Christian  evidences  together  as  to  furnish  an 
additional  and  independent  evidence  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Christian  faith.  .  .  . 

A  history  which  has  led  the  vast  majority  of  readers  in 
all  ages  to  feel  that  it  was  more  than  human,  is  confessedly 
beyond    human    construction.       Christian    theology    itself    is 


rO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  449 

baffled  when  it  tries  to  state  in  propositions  the  two  natures 
of  Christ,  and  the  relation  between  them.  The  decrees  of 
councils  and  the  terms  of  creeds  rather  exclude  error  than 
grasp  truth.  Yet  here,  admittedly,  in  the  narrative  of  the 
Evangelists,  the  impossible  is  achieved.  The  living  Christ 
walks  forth,  and  men  bow  before  him.  Heaven  and  earth 
unite  all  through,  —  power  with  gentleness,  solitary  greatness 
with  familiar  intimacy,  ineffable  purity  with  forgiving  pity, 
unshaken  will  with  unfathomable  sorrow.  There  is  no  effort 
in  these  writers,  but  the  character  rises  till  it  is  complete.  It 
is  thus  not  only  truer  than  fiction  or  abstraction,  but  truer 
than  all  other  history  :  carrying  through  utterly  unimaginable 
scenes  the  stamp  of  simplicity  and  sincerity ;  creating  what 
was  to  live  forever,  but  only  as  it  had  lived  already,  and 
reflecting  a  glory  that  had  come  so  near,  and  been  beheld 
so  intently,  that  the  record  of  it  was  not  only  full  of  grace  but 
'  of  truth.    .   .   . 

A  second  argument  for  the  historical  reality  of  Christ's 
life  and  character  is  formed  of  so  many  separate  testimonies. 
I  am  not  now  urging  the  credibility  of  the  Evangelists  on  the 
ordinary  historical  grounds  of  their  nearness  to  the  facts  and 
their  integrity  as  witnesses.  These  considerations  cannot,  in 
their  own  place,  be  overestimated  ;  and  the  whole  strain  of 
recent  criticism  is  in  the  direction  of  confirming  disputed 
points  of  date  and  authorship.  I  proceed,  now,  however, 
rather  upon  the  simple  fact,  that  so  many  separate  writers,  with 
visible  independence,  should  have  drawn  essentially  the  same 
unparalleled  character.  One  Gospel  is  a  marvel :  what  shall 
we  say  of  four,  each  with  its  distinct  plan,  its  enlargements 
and  omissions,  its  variations  even  where  most  coincident,  its 
problems  as  yet  unsolved,  but  always  yielding  something  to 
fresh  inquiry,  and  only  making  more  manifest  the  unchal- 
lengeable oneness  and  divinity  of  the  history  ? 

The  difficulties  of  the  Gospel  from  divergence  are  as 
nothing  compared  with  the  impression  made  by  them  all  of 
one  transcendent   creation ;  c(nd    for    my  part,    if   I    rejected 


450  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

inspiration,  I  should  have  reason  to  be  still  more  astonished. 
Some  slight  mistake  could  so  easily  have  impaired  perfection, 
or  yet  more  easily  lowered  divinity ;  some  careless  handling 
might  have  deranged  the  balance  at  the  most  critical  point,  or 
pulled  down  the  structure  in  hopeless  disaster.  Yet.  though 
we  see  how  different  each  Gospel  plan  is,  we  see  there  is  not 
any  such  trace  of  failure.  The  long  discourses  are  left  out 
by  Mark,  but  in  action  his  Christ  equals  that  of  Matthew. 
Luke  has  his  own  type,  both  of  parable  and  of  miracle,  but 
the  same  inimitable  figure  starts  up  from  all.  The  sorest 
trial  to  the  familiar  features  comes  from  the  Fourth  Gospel, 
without  a  parable  and  hardly  a  miracle  like  the  foregoing, 
and  with  so  great  a  flood  of  novelty,  especially  toward  the 
end.  But  the  unity  in  diversity  is  only  the  more  marvellous. 
The  Christ  of  the  Fourth  Gospel  is  the  Word  of  God,  but  he 
is  still  the  Son  of  man.  He  utters  no  Sermon  on  the  Mount, 
but  he  still  preaches  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  sheep 
scattered  abroad  still  find  him  the  good  Shepherd.  There 
is  no  exorcism,  but  the  prince  of  this  world  is  cast  out. 
There  is  no  transfiguration,  but  his  glory  through  out  is 
beheld  ;  no  agony  in  the  garden,  but  his  soul  is  troubled.  .  .  . 

With  all  these  data,  then,  and  many  others  of  the  Gospel 
records,  which  are  not  conjectures  but  facts,  the  only  rational 
conclusion  is,  that  they  embody  reality,  the  greatest  reality 
ever  transacted  on  the  scene  of  time ;  that  the  very  diversities 
so  often  appealed  to  as  an  objection  to  this  conclusion,  really 
strengthen  it,  and  prove  that  writings  which  can  so  bring 
forth  the  one  out  of  the  manifold  have  in  them  not  only  truth 
but  inspiration  ;  and  that  the  Christian  Church  stands  in  the 
centre  of  all  history,  divinely  planted  there,  where  she  still 
proclaims,  as  from  the  beginning,  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God.   .  .   . 

Thus  a  perfect  moral  example,  at  the  very  point  where  it 
reaches  its  highest  perfection,  begins,  by  its  own  surpassing 
charm  of  condescension  and  tenderness,  to  work  on  the 
lowest  and  most  fallen,  and  invite  them   up  the  steeps  of  its 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  45  I 

grandeur  and  purity :  whence  we  see  the  falsehood  of  the 
current  idea,  that  the  example  which  is  most  like  ourselves 
and  the  least  raised  above  our  own  struggles  and  falls,  is 
the  best,  at  least  for  beginners  in  the  race  of  holiness.  The 
whole  experience  of  the  Christian  Church  refutes  this.  Who 
have  acted  with  the  greatest  power  on  our  degraded  and 
criminal  classes  ?  Not  their  own  companions,  striving,  like 
themselves,  to  raise  their  heads  above  the  wide  surrounding 
sea  of  evil ;  but  the  holiest  men  and  women,  who  have  come 
to  them  as  ministering  angels,  who  have  recalled  the  image 
of  good  in  all  its  loveliness,  and,  by  associating  all  with  self- 
sacrificing  kindness,  have  given  them  the  hope  and  possibility 
of  escape,  otherwise  almost  as  remote  as  if  they  had  been 
abandoned  forever.  Of  this  law  of  the  attraction  of  the  holy, 
—  if  it  be  supremely  kind,  still  more  if  it  bring  the  news  of 
pardon,  —  Christ  is  the  limit ;  and  hence,  as  of  old,  to  the 
publicans  and  sinners,  and  to  all  the  wide  family  of  the  out- 
cast and  the  miserable,  he  stretches  down  his  loving  arms, 
and,  high  as  he  rises  above  them,  he  can  still  reach  to  their 
level,  and  lift  them  upward  with  the  call,  "  Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest."   .   .   . 

Here,  then,  is  the  summation  of  this  cumulative  argument, 
where  every  other  evidence  converges  to  the  life  and  charac- 
ter of  Jesus  Christ.  What  other  religion  has  such  a  mass  of 
evidence  in  its  favor,  historic,  prophetic,  doctrinal,  or  moral? 
What  other  religion  could  centralize  all  of  its  evidences  in  the 
person  of  its  Founder  ?  Not  Confucianism  ;  not  Buddhism, 
attractive  though  in  one  sense  the  record  of  its  founder  be  ; 
not  Brahmanism,  which  has  no  commanding  personality  in  its 
history ;  and  as  little,  Mohammedanism.  These  religions  lie 
mainly  outside  of  the  lives  of  their  human  authors.  Why 
did  not  their  authors  in  this  way  make  these  religions  more 
strong,  interesting,  and  likely  to  endure  ?  They  were  as  able 
on  human  principles  as  the  original  or  secondary  founders  of 
Christianity,  who   also  strike  clear   off  from  philosophy ;   for 


452  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

what  philosophy  ever  thought  of  constituting  itself  out  of  the 
biography  of  Socrates  or  Zeno,  of  Descartes  or  Hegel  ?  .  .  . 
When  we  speak  of  the  wonderfulness  of  Christianity,  we 
must  not  neglect  the  future.  It  only  among  religions  has  at 
once  an  Alpha  and  an  Omega.  The  future  alone  shall  bring 
out  its  great  proportions.  It  is  said  that  in  our  century,  for 
the  first  time,  the  master-works  of  Handel  are  fully  disclosed 
as  he  conceived  them.  Their  airs  sound  through  vaster 
spaces,  their  choruses  are  borne  up  by  mightier  instruments 
and  voices.  So  shall  it  be,  if  the  comparison  may  be  per- 
mitted, with  that  grander  "  Messiah,"  which  is  now,  amidst 
incredible  struggle,  breaking  out  in  living  music  throughout 
the  world. 


NE^A^MAN    SMYTH. 

[The  Reality  of  Faith.     New  York :   1884.     Pp.  65-69.] 

How  did  the  Christ  look  upon  the  lives  of  men  ?  Did  he 
stand  before  life  spell-bound  and  awed,  like  a  child  before  the 
ocean  ?  Was  this  many-voiced,  multiform,  endless  complexity 
of  life  which  we  see,  in  which  we  are  tossed  about,  of  which 
at  times  even  the  bravest  of  us  grow  weary  at  heart,  to  him 
also  endless  confusion  of  joy  and  sorrow,  a  tumult  of  cloud 
and  sunshine,  a  something  without  method  or  meaning  or 
purpose  or  end  ?  What  was  our  life  to  Jesus  ?  We  may  be 
sure  that  he  saw  all  these  changes  and  strange  minglings  of 
comedies  and  tragredies,  which  so  confuse  and  exhaust  us. 
We  may  be  sure  that  no  novelist,  nay,  not  all  the  novelists  or 
poets  who  have  had  insight  into  hearts,  seen  characters,  and 
made  miniatures  in  their  stories  of  the  world  around  them, 
ever  understood  men,  or  took  in  at  a  glance  the  histories  of 
human  souls,  or  saw  to  the  end,  in  its  last  scene,  the  drama 
of  human  history,  as  did  the  Son  of  man,  who  needed  not 
that  any  should  tell  him  of  men.  for  he  knew  what  was  in 
man.  We  may  be  sure,  then,  that  these  thoughts  of  our 
hearts    about    life  —  such    thoughts    as    I    have    been    trying 


rO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  453 

to  suggest  in  words  —  were  perfectly  familiar  to  Jesus  of 
Nazareth.  He  knew  what  his  disciples  were  thinking  about, 
as  they  went  from  city  to  city  and  through  the  villages  with 
him.     He  knew  the  world  of  men. 

If  we  feel  at  times  the  myriad  multiplicity  and  infinite 
confusions  of  life,  and  wonder  what  it  all  means  and  is  worth, 
Ave  may  be  perfectly  sure  that  the  most  sensitive  and  receptive 
soul  that  ever  was  found  in  fashion  as  a  man,  felt  life  as  we 
never  have.  He  was  touched,  says  the  record,  with  a  feeling 
of  our  infirmities.  Indeed,  all  that  we  see  in  the  world 
around  us,  —  youth,  laughter,  love,  hope,  vanity,  passion,  evil, 
death,  —  all  these  powers  of  light  and  darkness  which  w^e 
know,  were  making  and  marring  the  life  upon  which  Jesus 
looked.  Every  synagogue  which  he  entered  was  a  bit  of  the 
same  problem  of  humanity  of  which  our  lives  are  parts.  You 
may  be  sure,  then,  that  you  never  had  an  experience,  a  feel- 
ing, or  a  thought  about  life  and  death,  which,  in  its  real 
nature  and  meaning,  was  not  perfectly  known  and  familiar 
to  Jesus  Christ.  He  measured  in  his  own  experience  our 
temptations ;  and  his  life  took  in  Cana  of  Galilee,  a  sick-room 
in  Capernaum,  the  market-place  before  the  temple,  the  streets 
of  the  city,  the  country  towns  by  the  sea,  the  master  in  Israel, 
the  multitude  of  the  people,  the  whole  world  of  his  da)^  and 
of  all  days,  our  world-age,  and  God's  eternity. 

Remembering  thus  that  Jesus  lived  as  never  poet,  philoso- 
pher, or  novelist  has  lived,  in  the  real  world  of  human  motives 
and  hearts,  with  our  real  human  life  a  daily  transparency 
before  his  eye,  open  now  these  Gospels,  and  see  if  you  can 
find  there  In  Jesus'  view  of  our  life,  in  his  thought  of  us, 
any  such  feelings  or  questionings  as  I  have  been  expressing 
in  this  sermon,  —  any  such  sense  of  the  emptiness,  vanity, 
strangeness  of  life,  as  we  have  often  felt  resting  like  a  shadow 
over  our  thoughts.  Did  not  he  listen  to  stories  of  lives  as 
strange  and  sad  as  any  we  have  ever  heard  ?  Did  not  he 
look  upon  things  as  contradictory  to  goodness  and  God,  as 
any  thing  we  have  ever  seen  under  the  sun  ?  and  with  purer 


454  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

eyes  ?  Did  not  he  feel  with  larger  sympathy  and  warmer 
heart  the  broken,  tangled,  bleeding  lives  of  men  ?  Did  not 
he  bear  the  sin  of  the  world  ?  Where,  then,  is  our  human 
word  of  doubt  among  his  words  ?  Where  is  the  echo  of 
man's  despair  among  the  sayings  of  our  Lord  ?  Where,  in 
his  conversation  with  his  friends,  can  you  catch  a  note  of  that 
minor  key  which  runs  through  our  common  speech  of  life  ? 
He  could  weep  with  those  who  mourned,  but  he  spake  and 
thought  of  life  and  the  resurrection  before  the  grave  of 
Lazarus.  Read  over  these  Gospels  carefully,  and  where 
among  Jesus'  words  will  you  find  even  the  interrogation- 
point  of  our  ignorance  ?  Upon  what  parable  of  the  Lord  rest 
the  shadows  which  come  and  go  over  all  our  poetry  of  life  ? 
What  discourse  of  his  fortifies  itself  by  the  arguments,  labori- 
ously heaped  up,  with  which  our  faith  betrays  its  own  fear? 

Read  Tennyson's  "  In  Memoriam,"  and  then  read  the  story 
of  Jesus'  w^ords  at  Bethany  ;  read  Matthew  Arnold's  poems, 
and  then  read  Jesus'  parables  ;  read  Herbert  Spencer's  "  First 
Principles,"  and  then  read  Jesus'  single  discourse  with  the 
master  in  Israel.  Remember,  you  cannot  say  that  Jesus 
Christ  did  not  know  our  unbelief.  You  cannot  say  that  he 
did  not  understand  our  sense  of  life's  mystery  and  broken- 
ness.  He  saw  it  all  in  Mary's  tears  ;  he  read  it  in  the 
thoughts  of  disciples'  hearts ;  he  heard  it  in  Nicodemus' 
hard  question.  How  can  these  things  be?  Why,  then,  did 
he  never  reproduce  our  common  human  weariness  and  doubt 
in  his  thought  of  life  ?  Why  did  he  not  show  himself  to  be 
a  man  like  one  of  us,  as  he  wrestled  there  among  men  with 
all  their  burdens  and  their  woes  ?  Why  was  there  not  a  word 
or  note  or  tone  or  far-off  echo  of  such  human  sense  of 
weakness,  wonder,  hungry  doubt,  as  life  brings  so  often  to 
our  lips,  ever  heard  in  all  his  wondrous  life  of  toil  and 
sympathy  with  man  ?  Who  is  he  whose  feet  tread  our  com- 
mon ways,  whose  spirit  dwells  above  the  clouds  ?  Behold  the 
man  !  behold  Jesus  the  Lord  of  life  !  behold  the  Son  of  man 
on  earth  who  is  in  heaven  !      He  looks  out  upon  this  restless, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  455 

age-long  mystery  of  our  existence,  but  not  as  we  walk  insig- 
nificant upon  the  beach  before  the  ocean.  He  stands  before 
our  life  in  the  consciousness  of  power.  He  walks  upon  the 
sea,  and  the  winds  and  the  waves  obey  him.  Not  upon 
the  Sea  of  Galilee  alone,  —  upon  the  sea  of  life.  Its  winds 
and  waves  obey  him.  He  stands  before  our  life.  Its  sin  and 
woe  are  the  burden  and  the  sorrow  of  the  Christ,  but  its 
meaning  is  no  unknown  voice  to  him.  It  is  not  an  endless 
wonder  to  him.  He  sees  our  life  surrounded  by  the  living 
God ;  he  sees  beneath  our  world,  undergirding  it,  God's 
mighty  purpose  ;  he  sees  above,  the  righteous  Father ;  he 
sees  the  calm  of  eternity.  Nay,  as  you  may  have  looked  into 
a  troubled  pool  of  waters,  and  seen,  shimmering  in  broken 
lines  beneath  its  wind-stirred  surface,  the  reflection  of  the 
skies,  so  this  man  sees  the  promise  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
even  in  troubled  Judaea. 

And  knowing  life  better  than  you  or  I  do,  knowing  such 
things  as  you  may  have  heard  yesterda}-,  or  may  experience 
to-morrow,  —  enough  sometimes  to  make  men  wonder  whether 
there  be  a  God,  or  truth,  or  any  thing  of  worth,  —  Jesus  Christ, 
in  full  open  view  of  all  life,  said,  "  Let  not  your  heart  be 
troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid.  Ye  believe  in  God  ;  believe 
also  in  me." 


JOHN    RUSKIN. 

[The  True  and  the  Beautiful.     New  York:  1876.     Pp.  439,  441.] 

In  the  early  ages  of  Christianity,  there  was  little  care  taken 
to  analyze  character.  One  momentous  question  was  heard 
over  the  whole  world  :  "  Dost  thou  believe  in  the  Lord  with  all 
thine  heart  ?  "  There  was  but  one  division  among  men,  —  the 
great  unatonable  division  between  the  disciple  and  the  adver- 
sary. The  love  of  Christ  was  all,  and  in  all ;  and  in  propor- 
tion to  the  nearness  of  their  memory  of  his  person  and  teaching, 
men  understood  the  infinity  of  the  requirements  of  the  moral 
law,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  alone  could  be  fulfilled.   .  .  . 


456  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

And  so  it  is  in  all  writings  of  the  apostles  :  their  manner 
of  exhortation,  and  the  kind  of  conduct  they  press,  vary 
according  to  the  persons  they  address,  and  the  feeling  of  the 
moment  at  which  they  write,  and  never  show  attempt  at  logi- 
cal precision.  And  although  the  words  of  their  Master  are 
not  thus  irregularly  uttered,  but  are  weighed  like  fine  gold, 
yet,  even  in  his  teaching,  there  is  no  detailed  or  organized 
system  of  morality,  but  the  command  only  of  that  faith  and 
love  which  were  to  embrace  the  whole  being  of  man  :  "  On 
these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law^  and  the  prophets." 
Here  and  there  an  incidental  warning  against  this  or  that  more 
dangerous  form  of  vice  or  error,  "Take  heed  and  beware  of 
covetousness,"  "  Beware  of  the  leaven  of  the  Pharisees  ;  "  here 
and  there  a  plain  example  of  the  meaning  of  Christian  love, 
as  in  the  parables  of  the  Samaritan  and  the  prodigal,  and  his 
own  perpetual  example,  —  these  were  the  elements  of  Christ's 
constant  teachings  ;  for  the  Beatitudes,  which  are  the  only 
approximation  to  any  thing  like  a  systematic  statement,  belong 
to  different  conditions  and  characters  of  individual  men,  not  to 
abstract  virtues.  And  all  early  Christians  taught  in  the  same 
manner.  They  never  cared  to  expound  the  nature  of  this 
or  that  virtue  ;  for  they  knew  that  the  believer  who  had  Christ, 
had  all.  Did  he  need  fortitude  ?  Christ  was  his  rock. 
Equity  ?  Christ  was  his  righteousness.  Holiness  ?  Christ 
was  his  sanctification.  Liberty?  Christ  was  his  redemption. 
Temperance  ?  Christ  was  his  ruler.  Wisdom  ?  Christ  was 
his  light.  Fruitfulness  ?  Christ  was  the  truth.  Charity? 
Christ  was  love. 


THEODORE    T.    MUNGER. 

[The  FuEEnoM  OF  Faith.     Boston:  1S83.     Pp.  1 15-125.] 

Thus  Christ  presented  himself  before  the  world,  drawing- 
it  off  from  its  speculations,  its  ritualized  dogmas,  its  tratlitional 
ethics,  and  fixed   its  thought  upon  himself,  a   new  centre  of 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  457 

truth  and  inspiration.  His  position  is  without  parallel.  The 
philosophers  had  said,  "  Accept  our  ideas,  adopt  our  systems  ;  " 
but  Christ  said,  "Accept  nie^  No  religionists  have  ever  made 
a  similar  claim.  Gautama  said,  "This  is  the  way,  by  renun- 
ciation." Mohammed  said,  "There  is  heaven."  They  sunk 
themselves  in  their  theories,  and,  while  claiming  leadership, 
put  the  centre  of  their  systems  in  some  idea  or  external  end  ; 
but  Christ  merges  all  ideas  and  methods  in  devotion  to  him- 
self, and  the  devotion  is  summed  up  in  love.  A  most  strange 
thing :  here  is  one  whose  main  thesis  is  abnegation  of  self, 
and  is  himself  its  prime  illustration,  and  at  the  same  time  sets 
himself  up  as  the  centre  of  the  world's  love  !  It  is  out  of  such 
contradiction  that  we  are  to  look  for  the  issue  of  the  finest 
truth,  as  vision  is  born  of  darkness  and  light. 

There  is  in  this  attitude  no  final  abjuring  of  philosophy 
and  system  and  doctrine,  but  only  the  adoption  of  a  higher  and 
surer  method  of  reaching  them,  a  vitalizing  and  humanizing 
of  them.  In  its  last  analysis  the  idea  is  this :  truth  entering 
human  society  through  a  person,  and  making  love  its  vehicle. 

For  personality  is  the  secret  of  both  the  Christian  and 
Judaic  systems,  —  revelation  by  a  pej'son.  The  peculiarit)^  of 
these  systems  is  not  their  truth.  Men  are  sure  to  find  that 
out,  first  or  last.  And  ethical  truth  is  almost  the  first  to  clear 
itself  in  the  human  understanding.  The  old  philosophies  and 
mythologies  are  packed  with  undoubted  truth  ;  enough  for  all 
social  and  personal  need,  if  that  were  all  that  was  necessary. 
It  was  inevitable  that  the  precepts  of  love  as  the  sum  of 
duty  should  have  early  utterance:  the  human  mind  could  not 
go  amiss  of  them.  But  to  connect  them  with  a  person  for 
authority  and  inspiration  was  another  matter :  the  efficacy 
of  the  precepts  lies  in  the  person  that  utters  them,  and  in 
the  relation  of  this  person  to  man.  The  fault  of  Matthew 
Arnold's  definition  of  God,  "  A  Power  not  ourselves  that  makes 
for  righteousness."  is,  that  it  blurs  the  personalit}^  behind  the 
righteousness,  and  so  deprives  it  of  motive.  Whatever  signifi- 
cance there  is  in  the  Jewish  Scriptures  lies  in  the  personalit}' 


458  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

emblazoned  on  every  page,  —  a  God  who  is  not  a  power 
only,  but  also  a  person,  and  a  power  because  he  is  a  person  ; 
not  a  "  stream  of  tendency,"  flowing  in  free  or  hindered  cur- 
rents, destined  perhaps  to  flow,  but  capable  also  of  resistance, 
with  some  question  of  ultimate  success,  —  but  the  /  am,  the 
Personal  Being !  Cast  this  out,  and  they  might  have  been 
burned  with  the  books  of  Alexandria  with  little  loss.  But 
because  they  contain  this  uniform  and  self-attesting  assertion 
of  a  personal  God,  as  personal  as  man  is,  and  the  basis  of  his 
personality,  they  have  lain  warm  and  nourishing  at  the  roots 
of  that  civilization  which  is  dominating  the  world. 

There  is  reason  in  this.  A  relation  of  duty  cannot  be 
fully  established  and  sustained,  except  between  persons.  I 
owe  no  duty  to  force  or  to  "a  stream  of  tendency."  I  merely 
fall  in  with  or  resist  it,  without  any  play  of  my  faculties  except 
some  sense  of  prudence.  This  would  seem  axiomatic  ;  yet  it 
is  in  the  face  of  such  axiomatic  truth  that  we  are  asked  to 
accept  the  theories  of  an  unknowable  God,  —  theories  that 
annihilate  duty  by  rendering  impossible  a  relation  of  duty. 

The  Hebrew  and  Christian  Scriptures  have  presented  duty 
to  the  world,  not  only  in  a  rational  but  in  a  commanding  wa)-, 
because  they  assert  in  the  loftiest  way  the  two  correlative 
elements  in  duty ;  namely,  the  personality  of  man  and  the 
thorough  personality  of  God.  It  is  Christ's  revelation  of  this 
personality,  on  each  side,  that  constitutes  Christianity.  It  was 
long  before  its  facts  crystallized  into  systems.  The  Church 
sprang  up  about  the  revealing  person  of  Christ  ;  love  to  him 
was  the  bond  that  held  it  together  ;  and  so  it  continued  to  be, 
till  the  image  of  Christ  grew  dim,  and  the  Master  was  buried 
first  beneath  his  Church,  and  then  under  formal  renderings  of 
his  truth  ;  and  to-day  Christendom  puts  its  churches  and  its 
theologies  before  its  Lord. 

There  arc  tliose  who  contend  that  what  we  need  is  not  the 
Christ  himself,  but  the  truth  of  Christ ;  that,  if  we  accept  the 
principles  he  taught,  there  need  be  no  special  enthusiasm  or 
even  thought  about   their  author.     And    thus   Christianity  is 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  459 

gradually  reduced  to  a  philosophy,  and  thence  into  mere 
maxims  about  good  and  evil,  as  though  even  in  Christ's  day 
they  were  not  the  lumber  of  the  world. 

But  let  us  see  if  Christ  was  mistaken  in  planting  his  sys- 
tem upon  personal  love  and  devotion  to  himself.  Or,  more 
broadly,  why  does  this  faith,  that  claims  to  be  the  world's  sal- 
vation, wear  this  guise  of  personal  relations  ?  Simpl)-  because 
in  no  other  way  can  man  be  delivered  from  his  evil.  There 
may  be  exceptions  here  and  there  in  whom  natural  dispositions 
are  so  happily  blended  that  they  have  attained  to  a  stainless,  if 
cold,  virtue.  But  take  men  as  they  are,  the  bulk  and  mass  of 
humanity,  they  are  too  blind  to  find  their  way  by  the  light 
of  precepts,  too  firmly  wedded  to  evil  to  be  moved  by  theo- 
ries of  virtue,  too  solidly  embedded  in  the  custom  of  an  "  evil 
world  "  to  be  extricated  by  any  play  of  reason.  And  as  to 
experience,  the  fancied  teacher  of  wisdom,  with  its  "  hoard  of 
maxims,"  it  is  the  weakest  of  all.  Polonius  is  but  "  a  tedious 
old  fool "  to  the  Hamlets  who  are  struggling  with  their  own 
weakness  in  the  hard  play  of  human  life.  It  is  the  subtlest 
thought  in  the  profoundest  drama,  that  Hamlet  is  searching 
for  a  human  love  to  upstay  and  inspire  him  ;  it  is  the  key  to 
all  his  wild,  testing  talk  with  Ophelia :  the  love  he  found,  but 
there  was  no  streno-th  in  it ;  it  could  not  draw  too-ether  his 
scattered  and  faltering  energies,  and  set  them  to  some  definite 
end,  and  so  his  life  sweeps  on  to  its  tragic  close.  There  is  in 
all  these  simply  lack  of  motive  power.  Men  need,  instead, 
something  of  the  nature  of  a  passion  to  dislodge  them,  some 
deep  swelling  current  of  feeling  to  sweep  them  away  from  evil 
towards  goodness,  from  self  towards  God. 

Suppose  Christ  had  simply  depicted  the  miseries  of  sin 
and  the  inherent  fitness  and  excellence  of  the  virtues,  what 
would  he  have  done  ?  What  become  ?  Simpl)-  another  rabbi 
with  a  few  followers  for  a  generation.  He  began  instead 
by  forming  personal  relations  with  a  few  men,  captivating 
them  by  his  divine  charms,  making  them  feel  at  last  that 
his  love  was  more  than  a  human  love,  even  God's  own  love. 


46o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Ideas,  truths,  principles,  these  are  not  lacking ;  but  the  es- 
sence of  his  power  is  not  in  them,  for  they  have  no  power. 
The  great  reflective  novelist  has  well  stated  it  in  her  earlier 
and  wiser  pages  :  "  Ideas  are  often  poor  ghosts  ;  our  sun-filled 
eyes  cannot  discern  them  ;  they  pass  athwart  us  in  their  vapor, 
and  cannot  make  themselves  felt.  But  sometimes  they  are 
made  flesh  ;  they  breathe  upon  us  with  warm  breath  ;  they 
touch  us  with  soft,  responsive  hands  ;  they  look  at  us  with 
sad.  sincere  eyes,  and  speak  to  us  in  appealing  tones ;  they 
are  clothed  in  a  living  human  soul,  with  all  its  conflicts,  its 
faith,  and  its  love.  Then  their  presence  is  a  power  ;  then  they 
shake  us  like  a  passion,  and  we  are  drawn  after  them  with 
gentle  compulsion,  as  flame  is  drawn  to  flame."  And  yet  it  is 
ideas  that  the  loud-voiced  wisdom  of  the  age  would  have  us 
believe  to  be  the  salvation  of  the  world !  God  is  driven  far- 
ther and  farther  into  unknowable  heavens  ;  the  Christ  is  made 
to  figure  only  on  a  dim  and  blurred  page  of  history ;  the 
Spirit  is  thrust  out  on  some  score  of  intellectual  difficulty,  — 
all  reduced  to  ideas,  and  ghostly  at  that ;  and  a  selfish  world  is 
summoned  to  drop  the  principles  that  have  made  it  what  it 
is,  and  that  stand  to  it  for  the  solidest  realities,  by  a  phantom- 
show  of  ideas  for  which  it  does  not  care,  or  but  admires  as 
some  far-off  unattainable  glory  ! 

The  faith  that  is  to  redeem  the  world  must  have  a  surer 
method.  It  must  have  a  vitalizing  motive,  and  such  a  motive 
can  proceed  only  from  a  person  using  the  strongest  force  in  a 
person,  —  love.  And  thus  the  Christ  comes  before  humanity, 
making  God's  love  manifest  in  a  human  and  personal  way,  so 
unfolding  his  divine  beauty  in  word  and  deed  that  men  kneel 
before  him,  subdued  into  glad  receptivity  of  his  truth.  Thus 
it  was  that  the  multitudes  thronged  about  him.  that  Zacchaeus 
was  won  by  his  condescending  pity,  that  this  woman  broke 
upon  him  her  fragrant  tribute  of  honor,  that  Thomas  said, 
"  Let  us  also  go,  that  we  may  die  with  him,"  and  Peter,  with 
a  devotion  that  outran  his  courage,  "  Even  if  I  must  die  with 
thee,  yet  will   I   not  deny  thee  ;  "  that  John  leaned  upon  his 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  46 1 

bosom  ;  that  the  women  of  Jerusalem  bewailed  him  on  the 
cross,  and  lingered  about  the  sepulchre  ;  that  Joseph  claimed 
the  privilege  of  his  burial  ;  that  the  disciples  mourned  while 
he  lay  in  the  tomb  ;  that  joy  gave  wings  to  their  feet  when 
they  heard  of  his  resurrection.  Andw^hen  he  finally  ascended, 
and  the  full  scope  of  his  love  came  to  be  realized,  when  his 
character  and  being  began  to  stretch  away  into  the  infinite 
under  the  revelation  of  the  Spirit,  it  stirred  them  to  even 
deeper  passion.  His  love,  seen  now  to  be  divine,  awoke  in 
them  all  the  divineness  of  love,  and  became  the  measure  of 
their  devotion.  From  that  day  to  this,  the  faith  of  believers 
has  clustered  about  the  personal  Christ,  growling  cold  and 
effete  as  it  has  drawn  off  from  him  towards  philosophy,  and 
waxing  warm  and  effective  as  it  has  come  near  to  his 
glorified   person. 

I  grant  that  this  love  varies  in  its  external  features.  In 
these  later  days,  it  has  the  calm  of  thought,  the  sobriety  of 
conviction,  the  breadth  that  springs  from  a  realization  of  his 
work.  .  .  .  The  love  we  now  render  is  the  fidelity  of  our 
whole  nature,  the  verdict  of  our  intellio'ence,  the  assent  of 
our  conscience,  the  allegiance  of  our  will,  the  loyalty  of  sym- 
pathetic conviction,  all  permeated  with  tender  gratitude  ;  but 
it  is  still  personal,  loving  him  who  loved  us,  and  gave  him- 
self for  us. 

There  are  reasons  for  the  assertion  just  made,  that  it  is 
only  through  such  a  love  that  we  can  be  delivered  from  our- 
selves and  our  evil.  It  is  no  novelty  even  in  the  thought  of 
the  world.  "  George  Eliot"  says  ("  Daniel  Deronda,"  ii.  36), 
"It  is  one  of  the  secrets  in  that  change  of  mental  poise  which 
has  been  fitly  named  conversion,  that  to  many  among  us 
neither  heaven  nor  earth  has  any  revelation  till  some  person- 
ality touches  theirs  with  a  peculiar  influence,  subduing  them 
into  receptiveness."  It  only  needs  to  make  this  assertion 
universal,  to  have  in  it  a  definition  of  the  process  of  Christian 
faith,  and  almost  a  vindication  of  it  by  its  superb  insight. 
How  otherwise  shall  we  begin  to  secure  this  process  of  con- 


462  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

version  ?  how  uproot  the  selfishness  that  makes  it  necessary  ? 
Authority  fails.  The  commandments  are  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, also  in  other  sacred  books,  it  is  claimed  ;  but  they  had 
not  much  honor  in  their  fruits.  But  when  they  issued  from 
the  lips  of  the  living  Christ,  they  fell  into  men's  hearts  like 
fire,  and  wrought  in  them  as  a  passion.  Will  not  thought  open 
a  path  between  evil  and  good  ?  Thought  may  resolve  con- 
duct and  character  into  their  elements,  but  it  cannot  separate 
them.  Philosophy  makes  slow^  progress  in  saving  men.  It 
has  eyes  to  see  man's  misery,  but  no  hands  to  lift  him  out  of 
it.  If  upon  such  a  basis  one  begins  to  struggle  towards  the 
good,  the  result  is  a  hard,  painful  life,  sustained  by  mere  will, 
without  warmth  or  glow  or  freedom,  often  overshadowed  by 
doubts,  and  mazed  by  sophistries ;  for  there  are  philosophies 
and  philosophies,  a  life  more  deficient  and  less  exalted  than  it 
seems  to  itself,  because  it  is  not  constantly  matching  itself 
with  a  personal   standard. 

The  measure  of  rules  and  bare  ideals  has  little  working 
efficacy  ;  it  is  unsubstantial ;  it  does  not  recognize  the  com- 
plexity of  life,  for  only  life  can  measure  life  ;  it  guides  but 
imperfectly,  and  lacks  the  strongest  of  motive  powers,  — 
inspiration.  There  is  light  enough,  but  no  warmth  :  matter 
enough,  but  no  attraction.  Goodness  that  is  enforced  or  de- 
vised has  no  propagating  power.  You  cannot  think,  or  plan, 
or  legislate  it  into  existence  ;  it  is  not  a  product  of  syllogism, 
nor  a  deduction  of  knowledge,  nor  a  fruit  of  experience,  but 
is  akin  to  life,  and  must  be  begotten. 

And  so  character  is  placed  under  the  lead  of  personal 
love.  At  the  threshold  of  life  we  are  met  by  affections  that 
check  and  call  us  off  from  inborn  selfishness,  —  the  love  of 
parents,  and  of  brother  and  sister,  and  then  that  fiery  passion 
that  ushers  in  a  love  that  makes  of  twain  one,  and  then  the 
diviner,  downward-flowing  love  upon  children  ;  it  is  in  such 
ways  as  these,  all  personal,  that  evil  is  kept  or  crowded  out, 
and  we  become  tender  and  generous  and  pure. 

But  be)ond  lies  the  broader  sphere  of  humanity,  for  which 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  463 

there  is  but  small  native  passion,  and  hence  but  little  inspirino- 
force  impelling  us  to  its  duties.  Yet  this  is  the  field  of  our 
highest  duties,  for  here  are  our  widest  relations.  And  it  is 
here  chiefly  that  Christ  becomes  an  inspiration  through  the 
loyalty  of  love.  Christ  is  humanity  to  us  ;  he  has  hardly  any 
other  relation  :  he  was  not  a  father  or  husband.  As  son  and 
brother  his  relation  is  obscured  ;  his  citizenship  is  not  empha- 
sized. In  a  certain  sense,  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  have  an 
inspiring  and  saving  Christ  in  these  relations :  they  enforce 
themselves ;  they  are  still  full  of  their  original  divine  power. 
Not  so,  however,  when  we  get  outside  of  these  domestic  and 
neighborly  instincts.  Our  relation  to  humanity  at  large  is  so 
blurred  that  it  fails  to  enforce  its  duties.  Hence  Christ  put 
himself  solely  and  entirely  into  this  relation,  —  the  Son  of 
man,  the  Brother  of  all  men,  the  Head  of  humanity  ;  and 
there  sets  in  play  the  divine  forces  of  universal  love,  and  pity, 
and  sympathy.  When  our  love  meets  his  in  the  loyalty  of 
faith,  we  find  ourselves  rightly  related  to  humanity  and  to 
God.  Faith  in  Christ  has  for  one  of  its  main  ends  the  proper 
adjustment  of  the  individual  to  society.  The  secret,  essential 
relation  of  the  Christ  to  humanity,  and  of  humanity  to  God, 
flows  to  us  along  this  channel  of  obedient,  inspiring  love  ; 
and  so  we  come  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves,  and  God 
supremely. 

But  the  truth  may  be  set  in  even  a  larger  light.  The  love 
of  Christ  not  only  delivers  us  from  evil,  and  unites  us  to 
humanity ;  but  it  does  the  wider  work  of  uniting  us  to  God's 
eternal  order,  both  on  earth  and  in  heaven. 

The  one  supreme  truth  is,  that  God  is  love.  This  is  the 
secret  of  the  universe.  Creation  is  the  outcome  of  this  fact ; 
the  whole  order  of  all  things  is  grounded  in  it ;  the  harmony 
of  the  universe  is  its  realization.  There  is  therefore  no  possi- 
ble relation  for  a  human  being  to  stand  in  to  God,  and  to  his 
creation,  but  that  of  love.  Not  to  love  God  is  to  be  in 
confusion,  at  odds  with  creation,  aside  from  the  order  of  the 
universe.     The  whole  creation  swims  in  a  sea  of  eternal  love. 


464  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Every  law,  and  process,  and  form,  material  and  spiritual, 
angelic  and  human,  individual  and  social  ;  every  relation, 
every  method,  —  is  established  in  this  love.  This  makes  love 
the  supreme  and  all-embracing  duty.  It  is  thus  only  that  we 
come  into  accord  with  the  world,  and  fall  into  the  current  that 
sweeps  through  eternity. 

Thus  love,  that  seems  the  most  voluntary  thing  and  the 
thing  most  to  be  kept  at  our  own  disposal,  to  be  given  or 
withheld  as  we  see  fit,  becomes  an  imperative  obligation  ;  for 
it  is  the  only  possible  bond  by  which  we  can  hold  our  place 
in  God's  created  order,  the  one  highway  between  self  and  all 
other  things  and  beings.  Not  to  love  is,  at  last,  utter  and 
absolute  separation  from  all  else,  even  from  self.  It  is  the 
outer  darkness,  where  existence  itself  becomes  bewilderment. 
To  get  into  this  love,  which  is  God,  and  respond  to  its  mighty 
harmonies,  and  know  its  perfect  peace,  this  is  the  great  and 
final  achievement.  Consider  this  truth  until  you  have  mas- 
tered it.  or  at  least  got  some  glimpse  of  it,  and  then  put  it 
beside  the  revelation  of  this  love  in  the  Son  of  God  ;  and  you 
see  at  once  why  you  are  to  love  him.  It  is  simply  putting 
yourself  in  accord  with  the  ruling  principle  of  the  universe. 
It  is  falling  into  line  with  the  eternal  order.  For  the  whole 
universe  is  wrought  into  him ;  he  is  the  only  begotten  Son 
of  the  Father ;  in  him  the  entire  order  of  nature  is  set  forth  ; 
in  him  the  whole  of  God's  will  is  perfectly  obeyed  ;  he  is  the 
perfect  Righteousness.  And  in  him  the  full  order  and  will  of 
eternal  love  is  brought  into  humanity,  where  human  love  — 
your  love  and  mine  —  may  lay  hold  of  it,  and  play  into  it. 
Nor  can  there  be  conceived  any  other  method  by  which 
human  love  can  enter  into  the  eternal  love.  It  must  go  by 
the  eternally  ordained  path  of  personality,  and  the  personality 
mu.st  be  a  manifestation  of  all  the  fulness  of  God.  Hence, 
there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  wherein  we  must  be 
.saved. 


THE   GOOD   SHEPHERD. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  465 

CAZNEAU    PALFREY. 

[The  Christian  Register.     Boston:  Aug.  20,  1885.] 

It  is  said  that  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament  exhibit  a 
complete  portrait  of  an  absohitely  perfect  Hfe. 

Let  lis  examine  that  assertion.  In  what  sense  is  it  true? 
Can  it  be  Hterally  true  ?  Is  a  complete  verbal  description  of 
an  absolutely  perfect  life  even  possible  ?  All  language  is  in 
its  nature  imperfect,  and  cannot  adequately  represent  perfec- 
tion. Words  that  stand  for  spiritual  ideas  are  not  mathe- 
matical terms,  but  symbols.  They  do  not  exactly  define,  but 
suggest  merely ;  and  they  will  suggest  more  or  less  according 
to  the  intelligence  and  sensibility  of  the  hearer  or  reader.  In 
every  process  of  communication  by  speech,  the  mind  of  the 
recipient  is  an  essential  factor.  A  delineation  of  moral  excel- 
lence which  should  produce  the  same  impression  upon  all 
minds  and  hearts  is  inconceivable. 

Besides,  would  it  not  be  presumptuous  to  say,  "  I  have 
examined  the  character  of  Christ,  as  it  appears  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  have  found  it  perfect "  ?  Would  it  not  be 
claiming  that  I  fully  comprehend  Christ,  and  that  I  carry  within 
me  an  infallible  standard  of  judgment,  by  which  I  am  able  to 
pronounce  finally  on  moral  perfection?  One  who  could  so 
speak  of  Christ  would  no  longer  need  him.  More,  unspeak- 
ably more  than  this,  is  Christ  to  the  soul.  He  is  practically 
an  inexhaustible,  an  infinite,  object  of  contemplation.  We 
cannot  comprehend  him  :  we  can  only  apprehend  him.  The 
glad  and  grateful  acknowledgment  of  the  Christian  heart  is : 
I  find  in  him  the  supply  of  all  my  spiritual  needs.  He  speaks 
to  that  which  is  deepest  and  highest,  and  quickens  into  new 
life  all  that  is  good  within  me.  All  my  moral  ideas  are  raised 
and  purified  by  the  contemplation  of  his  excellence.  In  him 
I  '  ave  ever  before  me  an  embodied  ideal  of  a  divine  life.  So 
he  is  to  me  a  perpetual  source  of  light,  strength,  and  inspira- 
tion.    And  the  more  profoundly  I  study  him,  and  the  more  I 


466  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

understand  of  his  spirit,  and  the  more  of  it  I  am  able  to 
transfuse  into  my  own  life,  the  more  do  I  see  in  him,  and  the 
more  do  I  gain  from  him. 

Here,  again,  the  question  may  be  asked,  not  without 
incredulous  wonder,  Can  it  be  that  all  this  is  in  the  contents 
and  effects  of  those  brief  narratives,  so  fragmentary,  so  dis- 
connected, so  difficult  to  be  chronologically  arranged  and 
woven  into  a  continuous  and  consistent  history  ?  To  this 
question  the  answer  comes  from  all .  the  ages  of  Christian 
experience :  Yes ;  all  this,  and  more  that  will  be  disclosed  to 
future  ages,  is  contained  in  and  proceeds  from  those  same 
imperfect  narratives,  provided  only  there  be  the  heart  prepared 
to  receive  it ;  for  the  word  is  a  seed,  and  must  find  a  fit  soil 
before  it  can  spring  up  and  bear  fruit.  In  all  the  generations 
of  the  Church,  reverent  and  seeking  hearts  hav'e  pondered 
over  those  narratives ;  and  there  has  perpetually  risen  from 
them  the  living  Christ.  Is  it  said  that  all  have  not  seen  alike, 
that  different  Christs  have  appeared  to  different  individuals 
and  ages?  It  is  true  that  no  one  has  seen  the  whole.  Each 
sees  but  a  part ;  different  beholders  see  different  parts,  and 
some  may  not  see  rightly.  Is  it  said  that  we  find  in  the 
narrative  no  more  than  we  bring  to  it,  —  that,  as  is  sometimes 
said,  every  man  constructs  his  own  Christ  out  of  the  recorded 
facts  ?  Every  experienced  disciple  of  Christ  knows  how  untrue 
that  is.  Christ  and  the  human  soul  are  indeed  adapted  to 
each  other,  else  were  he  no  Christ  to  us.  We  may  admit, 
indeed,  with  George  Fox,  that  there  is  a  latent  Christ  in  every 
human  soul.  To  that  the  historical  Christ  speaks.  His  spirit 
moves  over  the  soul,  and  brings  forth  from  the  secret  depths 
of  unconsciousness  all  that  is  most  like  itself.  We  cannot 
bring  it  forth  ourselves.  The  soul  cannot  furnish  itself  with 
a  new  ideal.  It  cannot  inspire  itself.  As  well  might  we  try 
to  lift  ourselves  from  the  earth  by  clasping  our  own  loodies. 
The  philosophy  of  the  day  speaks,  at  least  by  the  lips  of  some 
of  its  adherents,  of  a  spiritual  environment  by  which  the 
spiritual   nature  is  developed,  as  the  intellectual,  moral,  and 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  467 

aesthetic  faculties  are  developed  by  their  respective  environ- 
ments. Unquestionably  there  is  such  an  environment,  which 
has  embraced  all  men,  and  been  more  or  less  effectual  in 
their  spiritual  education.  Such  is  the  doctrine  of  the  proem 
of  John's  Gospel.  When  Christ  came,  he  stepped  into  this 
environment ;  and  then  it  became,  oh,  how  unspeakably  more 
potential  than  ever  before  1 

When  God  sends  forth  a  new  spiritual  power  in  the 
person  of  a  living  messenger,  it  will  inevitably  happen  that 
a  history  of  its  introduction  into  the  world  will  sooner  or  later 
be  written  ;  and  the  record  of  the  facts  and  circumstances 
attending  it  will  become  very  precious,  and  will  perform  an 
important  office  in  preserving  the  purity  of  the  power,  and 
helping  its  operation.  But  the  first  product  of  such  a  force 
will  be,  not  a  book,  but  a  church.  It  will  first  be  felt  in  living 
hearts,  and  will  spread  from  soul  to  soul  by  a  holy  contagion, 
and  will  manifest  itself  to  the  w^orld  by  an  altered  society.  It 
is  only  when  the  first  intensity  of  the  power  has  somewhat 
subsided,  that  a  record  bemns  to  be  thougfht  of.  The  Church 
lived  certainly  a  generation  without  the  Gospels  w^e  now  have. 
Yet  it  knew  Christ ;  it  partook  of  his  spirit  ;  it  possessed  a 
Christian  consciousness.  And,  when  our  present  Gospels 
w^ere  brought  to  it  they  were  received,  not  as  a  new  authority, 
but  as  embodying  one  already  recognized.  The  Church  in 
effect  sat  in  judgment  on  them,  and  accepted  them  because 
they  best  represented  the  Christ  it  had  always  known. 

It  may  help  us  somewhat  to  understand  the  wonderful 
efficiency  of  the  Christian  records,  to  consider  the  use  of  all 
other  historical  records.  Every  student  of  history  has  a  circle 
of  acquaintances  in  the  ages  of  the  past.  He  knows,  more 
or  less  intimately,  many  distinguished  men,  who  have  acted 
prominent  parts  in  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  have  shown 
by  conspicuous  deeds  what  manner  of  men  they  w^ere.  I 
know,  for  example,  to  some  extent,  Socrates,  Alexander,  Cicero, 
St.  Francis,  Cromwell,  Washington,  Franklin.  They  are  real 
persons  to  me.     How  can  this  be  ?     It  is  because  they  were 


468       •      TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

men,  and  I  am  a  man.  By  reason  of  a  common  nature,  I 
know  what  the  acts  recorded  of  them  mean.  I  understand 
the  dispositions  and  feelings  from  which  they  proceeded  ;  I 
discern  the  character  imphed  in  them.  Often  a  very  simple 
fact  has  a  profound  significance.  It  lets  us  deeply  into  a 
man's  soul.  It  not  only  makes  itself  manifest,  but  reveals 
many  things  that  lie  about  it.  I  put  together  all  the  facts 
recorded  of  a  man  ;  and  out  of  the  synthesis  there  springs  a 
living  man,  with  not  merely  all  the  qualities  implied  in  the 
facts,  but  with  all  related  qualities,  all  that  my  human  instincts 
teach  me  are  requisite  to  complete  the  portrait.  All  historical 
personages  do  not,  indeed,  impress  us  with  equal  vividness, 
nor  do  any  with  absolute  completeness.  Neither  do  the 
persons  whom  we  meet  daily  face  to  face.  They  become  real 
persons  to  us  in  proportion  to  the  force  that  is  in  them, 
according  to  the  quantity  of  being  they  represent. 

And  if  that  is  the  condition  of  personal  influence,  what 
shall  we  say  of  the  power  of  Christ's  life  ?  He  was  the  most 
intense  personality  the  world  ever  saw.  He  included  all 
human  possibilities  ;  he  was  pure  spiritual  power,  —  the  power 
of  God.  Not  only  was  his  life  of  uncompromising  fidelity 
to  the  highest,  but  the  highest  to  which  he  was  so  faithful  was 
a  higher  than  the  heart  of  man  had  conceived,  but  which, 
when  presented  to  it,  it  can  appreciate  and  accept.  Therefore 
it  is  that  I  say  that  Christ  speaks  with  power  to  the  human 
heart  as  it  had  never  been  spoken  to  before.  This  power  so 
far  transcends  in  degree  that  of  all  other  historical  persons,  as 
to  amount  to  a  difference  in  kind.  His  relation  to  history  is 
peculiar.  He  is  in  the  record,  but  the  record  cannot  contain 
him.  The  record  reveals  him  rather  by  what  it  suggests,  than 
by  what  it  can  possibly  describe  or  define.  The  recortl 
introduces  him  to  us,  but  he  establishes  and  explains  the 
record. 

His  sj)irit,  as  we  receive  it  from  the  whole  narrative, 
enables  us  to  sit  in  judgment  on  particular  parts  of  it,  and 
to  pronounce  upon  errors  and  misapprehensions  into  which 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  469 

its  authors  may  have  fallen.  The  integrity  of  our  conception 
of  Christ  does  not  depend  on  the  settlement  of  any  questions 
respecting  the  origin  of  the  records,  or  the  method  of  their 
composition.  It  is  not  affected  by  the  various  readings  of 
ancient  manuscripts,  or  by  the  different  renderings  of  divers 
versions.  It  is  well  that  all  the  resources  of  critical  and 
exegetical  skill  should  have  been  exhausted  on  the  text  of 
writings  so  precious  ;  but  let  it  not  be  thought  that  any  vital 
issue  is  involved  in  such  investio^ations.  For  learnino-  the 
mind  and  imbibing  the  spirit  of  Christ,  nothing  more  is 
essential  than  the  plain  English  Testament  that  we  read  at 
our  mother's  knee.  The  chief  qualification  for  gaining  what 
the  record  has  to  reveal,  is  the  heart  of  a  reverent,  loving, 
sympathetic  disciple. 


CHARLES  HADDON  SPURGEON. 

[Hands  Full  of  Honey,  and  Other  Sermons.     New  York:  1SS4.     Pp.  164,  170,  172.] 

In  these  days,  certain  w^ould-be  wise  men  are  laboriously 
attempting  to  constitute  a  church  without  Christ,  and  to  set 
forth  salvation  without  a  Saviour ;  but  their  Babel  building  is 
as  a  bowino-  wall  and  a  tottering  fence.  The  centre  of  the 
blessed  mystery  of  the  Gospel  is  Christ  himself,  in  his  person. 
...  I  go  a  little  farther  still.  As  it  must  be  Christ  himself, 
and  none  other,  it  must  also  be  Christ  himself  rather  than 
any  thing  which  Christ  gives.  I  was  thinking  the  other  da)f 
how  different  Christ  is  from  all  the  friends  and  helpers  we 
have.  They  bring  us  good  things,  but  Jesus  brings  us  him- 
self. He  does  not  merely  give  us  wisdom,  righteousness, 
sanctification,  and  redemption  ;  but  he  himself,  of  God,  is 
made  all  these  things  to  us.  Hence  we  can  never  do  without 
him. 

When  you  are  very  ill  you  are  pleased  to  see  the  doctor ; 
but  when  you  are  getting  well  you  say  to  yourself,  "  I  shall  be 
glad  to  see  the  back  of  the  good  man,  for  that  will  be  a  sure 


470  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

sign  that  I  am  off  the  sick-Hst."  Ah !  but  when  Jesus  heals 
a  soul,  he  wants  to  see  Jesus  more  than  ever.  Our  longing 
for  the  constant  compans'  of  our  Lord  is  the  sign  that  we 
are  eettine  well.  He  who  lono-s  for  Tesus  to  abide  with 
hini  forever  is  healed  of  his  plague.  We  never  outgrow 
Christ.   .   .   . 

If  you  have  your  foot  upon  the  threshold  of  pure  gold,  and 
your  finger  upon  the  latch  of  the  gate  of  pearl,  you  now  need 
Christ  more  than  ever  you  did.  I  feel  persuaded  that  you  are 
of  Rutherford's  mind,  when  he  cried  to  have  his  heart  enlarged 
till  it  was  as  big  as  heaven,  that  he  might  hold  all  Christ  within 
it. 

Christ  alone  is  enough.  Mark  this.  Nothing  must  be 
placed  with  Christ  as  if  it  were  necessary  to  him.  Some  hold 
a  candle  to  the  sun,  by  preaching  Christ  and  man's  philosophy, 
or  their  own  priestcraft.  When  the  blessed  rain  comes  fresh 
from  heaven,  they  would  fain  perfume  it  with  their  own  dainty 
extract  of  fanc)-.  As  for  God's  blessed  air,  fresh  from  the 
eternal  hills,  they  dream  it  cannot  be  pure  unless,  by  scientific 
experiments,  they  load  it  with  their  smoke  and  cloud. 

Come,  clear  out ;  let  us  see  the  sun.  We  want  not  your 
rushlights.  Away  with  your  gauzes  and  your  fineries.  Let 
the  clear  sunlight  enter,  let  the  holy  water  drop  from  heaven  ; 
we  want  not  your  scented  essences.  Out  of  the  way,  and  let 
the  fresh  air  blow  about  us.  There  is  nothing  like  it  lor  the 
health  and  strenpfth  of  the  soul.' 


JAMES    FREEMAN    CLARKE. 

[The  Oricinality  ok  Jksus.     The  Sxturday  Kvcning  Gazette,  Uoston  :   Feb.  25,  1SS2.] 

Highest  of  all  are  the  souls  who  have  become  fountains 
of  spiritual  life,  satisfying  the  longing  of  the  human  heart  for 
goodness  and  God.  Those  who  have  held  up  the  great  law 
of  righteousness,  wlio  have  taught  mankind  justice,  who  have 
inspired  the  heart  with  generosity,  who  have  awakened  and 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  47 1 

satisfied  the  thirst  for  divine  things,  —  these  are  the  most  ori- 
ginal of  all,  for  to  them  men  trace  the  origin  of  the  noblest 
work  done  on  earth.  These  sit  in  the  highest  places,  among 
the  immortals,  the  prophets,  saints,  pacifiers  of  the  world. 
They  have  been  sent  by  God  in  every  time  and  to  every  land, 
divine  teachers  to  lift  men  above  what  is  merely  earthly,  and 
to  show  to  them  the  eternal  world  m  which  God  dwells. 

And  who  can  doubt  that  Jesus  is  highest  among  them 
all?  He  is  highest  of  all  because  he  went  down  deepest  of  all. 
He  knew  the  needs  of  the  soul  better  than  any  other.  He 
most  of  all  reverenced  the  humanity  of  man.  Human  nature 
was  dear  to  him  in  every  form.  No  one  was  too  low,  too 
mean,  too  sinful,  for  his  divine  love.  This  is  his  great  honor, 
his  chief  dignity.   .   .   . 

He  was  the  creator  of  a  higher  form  of  faith,  hope,  and 
love,  than  had  ever  existed  before.  It  is  Pascal  who  says  that 
the  whole  outward  universe  of  suns  and  stars  is  nothing  when 
weiofhed  against  a  single  thought  in  the  mind  of  man  ;  that 
all  the  thougrhts  in  the  minds  of  all  rational  men  are  nothino- 
when  weighed  against  one  act  of  faith  in  God  and  eternity; 
and  that  all  the  faith  of  mankind  is  nothing  when  placed  in 
the  scale  against  a  single  throb  of  orenerous  love.  In  the 
soul  of  Jesus  all  are  found,  —  the  insight  which  shows  to  us 
the  highest  truths,  the  faith  which  made  him  one  with  God, 
and  the  love,  mightiest  of  all,  which  led  him  to  crive  his  life 
to  the  service  of  mankind.  Thus  he  fulfilled  his  own  saying, 
"  He  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased,  but  he  that  hum- 
bleth  himself  shall  be  exalted."  .  .  . 

This  was  the  type  of  originality  of  which  Jesus  was  the 
loftiest  specimen  ever  shown  on  earth.  He  went  up  by  going 
down.  He  went  down  in  sympathy  with  the  poor,  the  lepers, 
the  publicans,  the  hard  worldly  men,  the  weak  sinful  creatures 
around  him.  We  are  apt  to  be  disgusted  by  different  forms 
of  evil.  We  shrink  from  some  kinds  of  coarseness,  falsehood, 
meanness,  cruelty,  sensuality,  ferocity.  But  Jesus  had  a  heart 
large  enough  to  pity  the  poor  wretch  whose  miser)^  is  that  he 


4/2  TESTIMONY  OF  NLXETEEmN   CENTURIES 

is  possessed  by  such  demons.  He  saw  the  human  soul  in  all, 
and  he  loved  it,  and  was  willing  to  do  and  bear  any  thing  in 
order  to  save  it.  This  is  his  true  glor)%  his  divine  originality. 
This  is  what  has  made  him  the  leader  of  the  human  race.  .  .  . 

He  came  to  fulfil  all  righteousness  ;  that  is,  to  fill  it  full 
of  life  on  every  side.  He  combined  in  his  soul  antagonist 
and  opposite  virtues,  so  that  they  were  no  longer  opposed, 
but  were  resolved  into  perfect  harmony.  He  could  hate  the 
sin,  yet  be  merciful  to  the  sinner.  He  joined  the  love  of  God 
with  the  love  to  man  ;  toleration  of  all  the  innocent  joys  of 
this  world,  with  entire  self-denial  when  duty  called  for  it.  All 
the  shackles  of  tradition  fell  from  him  :  he  was  the-  most 
radical  reformer  ever  seen  on  earth.  To  him  the  sabbath 
was  nothing  unless  it  helped  man.  He  taught  that  man  need 
worship  neither  in  the  temple,  nor  on  Mount  Gerizim,  but  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,  in  the  closet  of  the  heart,  not  with  many 
repetitions.  He  taught  the  shortest  of  all  prayers  ever  taught 
by  prophet  to  his  disciples.  It  did  not  matter  to  him  what  a 
man  ate  or  drank,  whether  he  fasted  or  not ;  ablution  and 
ritual  were  nothing  in  his  eyes.  The  man  who  does  the  will 
of  God  is  he  who  builds  his  house  on  the  rock,  never  to  be 
shaken. 

Jesus  did  not  wish  men  to  say  to  him,  Lord,  Lord  ;  but 
to  do  justly,  and  love  mercy.  Thus  he  taught  a  truly  universal 
religion,  a  religion  both  for  this  world  and  for  the  world  to 
come. 

This  was  the  originality  of  Christ ;  not  discovering  some 
truth  which  had  never  been  thouo-ht  of  before,  but  summinor 
ujj  into  one  fulness  and  harmony  all  the  great  truths  ;  uniting 
this  life  and  the  next ;  making  time  and  eternity  one.  We 
call  one  man  a  saint,  another  a  hero,  another  a  martyr,  another 
a  sage,  another  a  reformer,  another  a  philanthropist.  We 
never  think  of  giving  any  of  these  names  to  Jesus,  but  yet 
all  ol  them  were  in  him.  He  was  saint,  hero,  martyr,  prophet, 
philanthropist,  reformer,  all  in  one,  but  all  so  harmonized  that 
neither  element  is  prominent. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  473 

This  is  his  perfection.  It  is  fulness  ;  the  complete,  well- 
rounded,  entire  human  life,  in  which  man,  being  perfect, 
becomes  one  with   God. 

No  one  can  question  the  fact  that  Jesus  is  still  the  actual 
leader  of  that  part  of  the  race  which  leads  the  rest.  In  this 
is  his  originality,  that  he  has  originated  and  still  carries  on 
the  deepest,  loftiest,  and  widest  movement  ever  known  in  this 
world. 


WILLIAM    GARDEN    BLAIKIE. 

[The  Public  Ministry  of. Our  Lord.    New  York:  1S83.     Pp.  5,  6,  115,  116.] 

With  all  his  naturalness  and  social  likeness  to  us,  and  with 
all  his  participation  in  the  infirmities  of  our  nature,  Jesus  never 
shows  kinship  with  us  in  our  sins.  It  is  a  strange  yet  com- 
mon experience,  that  out  of  the  very  blunders  of  great  and 
good  men,  and  of  their  failings  in  duty,  there  springs  up  a 
fellow-feeling  between  them  and  ordinary  mortals,  otherwise 
hardly  possible.  How  often  do  we  find  that  one  touch  of 
fallen  nature  makes  us  kin  !  When  Moses  strikes  the  rock, 
when  Elijah  flies  to  the  desert,  when  Jonah  takes  passage  in 
the  ship,  when  Jeremiah  pleads  his  youth,  when  Paul  and  Bar- 
nabas fall  out  about  Mark,  we  feel  that  they  were  men  of  like 
passions  with  ourselves  ;  and  possibly,  for  this  very  reason,  we 
appreciate  more  highly  the  noble  service  which,  despite  their 
infirmities,  they  were  able  to  render.  We  see  them  not  as 
mere  lay  figures,  invested  by  fanciful  writers  with  every  ima- 
ginable excellence,  and  quite  beyond  the  sphere  of  humanity, 
of  the  order  of  angels  rather  than  men ;  but  of  flesh  and  blood 
like  ourselves,  —  not  without  hasty  tempers  and  carnal  fears, 
hearts  that  could  be  moved  by  temptation,  and  consciences 
that  could  be  paralyzed  for  a  time  by  sin. 

But  there  is  nothing  of  this  kind  in  our  blessed  Lord.  He 
never  falls,  never  slips,  never  sins.  It  is  very  remarkable,  that, 
in  spite  of  this,  we  should  feel  so  near  to  him.  That  it  should 
be  so,   is  due  to  the  intensity  of  his  love,  the  depth  of  his 


474  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

humility,  and  the  fulness  of  his  humanity.  He  touches  us  so 
closely  at  all  points  where  contact  is  possible,  that  we,  for  the 
time,  are  hardly  conscious  of  the  points  where  the  distance  is 
so  great  that  contact  is  not  possible.  The  woman  that  washed 
Christ's  feet  with  her  tears  was  separated  from  him  morally  by 
a  whole  universe,  but  compassion  drew  his  heart  into  closest 
contact  with  hers.  As  two  houses  that  are  connected  by  a 
mutual  gable  on  one  side,  may  be  said  on  the  other  side  to  be 
separated  by  the  whole  circumference  of  the  globe,  so  Christ, 
in  his  humanity,  could  come  into  closest  intimacy  even  with 
those  from  whom,  in  a  higher  sense,  he  was  separated  by 
infinity.  In  his  dealings  with  his  disciples,  his  gentleness,  his 
forbearance,  his  consideration,  broke  down  every  barrier  to 
loving  and  confidential  intercourse.  As  we  study  his  life  and 
ministry,  we  come  under  the  influence  of  this  attractive  power. 

From  the  mind  of  Christ,  truth  came  out,  not  in  little 
sparks,  but  in  brilliant  flashes  ;  not  in  drops,  but  in  gushing 
streams.  Unlike  Socrates  and  Plato,  and  the  other  wise  men 
of  the  early  world,  he  did  not  grope  and  guess,  but  he  walked 
steadily,  fearlessly  erect,  through  realms  of  darkness  and 
mystery.  He  seemed  endued  with  a  new  spiritual  sense. 
The  ways  and  purposes  of  God,  hidden  from  our  view  so  far 
away  in  the  depths,  seemed  to  him  a  familiar  theme.  The 
phrases  that  are  so  often  in  the  mouths  of  the  greatest  phi- 
losophers, about  the  limitation  of  our  knowledge,  were  never 
used  by  him  except  with  reference  to  one  thing,  —  a  day 
which  not  even  the  Son  knew,  but  only  the  Father. 

He  did  not,  like  Newton,  compare  himself  to  a  child 
gathering  pebbles  on  the  beach  while  the  great  ocean  of  truth 
lay  unc^xplored  before  him.  He  did  not,  like  Butler,  speak  of 
the  government  of  God  as  a  scheme  imperfectly  comj^re- 
hended.  He  did  not,  like  Paul,  contrast  the  state  in  which 
we  sec  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  with  the  state  in  which  we 
are  to  see  face  to  face.  Not  only  did  he  appear  to  know 
certain])-  all  that  Ik;  taught,  but  he  appeared  also  to  [)ossess 
great  stores  of  divine  truth  which  he  kept  in   reserve.     Nor 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  475 

can  it  be  said  that  in  all  this  he   showed  a  trace  of  preten- 
tiousness. 

His  lessons  have  stood  the  test  of  eighteen  hundred  years. 
All  that  time  it  is  his  torch  that  has  been  flaminof  in  the  van 
of  the  truth-loving  host,  and  guiding  their  steps  towards  the 
land  of  promise.  All  that  time  the  great  spiritual  leaders  of 
the  race  have  owned  allegiance  to  him.  No  spiritual  seer  has 
arisen  to  overtop  him,  or  to  give  a  new  direction  to  the  steps 
of  men  bent  on  learning  the  ways  of  God. 


CHARLES   LORING    BRACE. 

[Gesta  Christi.     New  York  :  1SS4.     Pp.  1-3,  271,  272.] 

At  a  certain  era  in  the  world's  history,  —  not  ver}'  remote 
as  compared  with  the  duration  of  the  human  race  on  the  earth, 
—  there  appeared  a  new  moral  force  in  human  life.  It  origi- 
nated in  an  obscure  tribe  of  a  remote  province  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  and  was  embodied  in  the  personality,  life,  and  teach- 
ings of  a  remarkable  being, —  Jesus  the  Christ. 

The  moral  truths  of  these  teachings  were  not  absolutely 
new,  —  as  indeed  the  principles  of  morality  rest  on  the  princi- 
ples of  human  nature,  and  must  be  known  more  or  less  clearly 
to  all  men, — but  they  were  presented  with  such  unequalled 
simplicity  and  earnestness,  and  illustrated  by  a  life  and 
character  of  such  unexampled  elevation  and  purity,  and 
accompanied  with  spiritual  truths  so  profound  and  universal, 
as  well  as  with  supernatural  claims,  that  the  whole  formed  a 
new  power  in  the  moral  renovation  of  man  ;  in  other  words, 
a  reliction  claimino-  to  be  absolute  and  universal  for  all  ares 
and  races  and  circumstances. 

In  every  age  were  simple  men  and  vvomen,  not  known 
perhaps  to  history,  or  even  to  those  of  their  own  time,  whose 
souls  and  lives  were  filled  with  the  principles  of  this  new 
faith.  These  gradually  affected  social  habits  and  practices, 
sometimes  changing  them  before  they  influenced  legislation, 


476  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

sometimes  by  a  favoring  public  accident  being  able  to  reform 
laws  and  public  officials,  thus  day  by  day  by  imperceptible 
steps  purifying  Church,  State,  and  people  ;  gradually  causing 
certain  great  abuses  and  wrongs  to  melt  away  before  the 
fervency  of  their  spirit  and  the  innocence  and  beneficence  of 
their  lives.  These  have  been  inspired  by  Christ.  Though 
for  the  most  part  unknown  perhaps  to  ecclesiastical  records, 
or  to  the  historians  of  empires,  they  have  illustrated  and 
transmitted  the  divine  truths  which  they  received  from  him. 

In  lives  of  purity  and  human  brotherhood,  in  honesty, 
faithfulness,  compassion,  and  true  humanity,  they  have  sought 
to  follow  their  great  leader.  They  have  formed  the  true  and 
invisible  Church  of  Christ.  While  living  for  him,  they  have 
lived  for  the  human  race.  Their  spirit  and  their  sacrifices 
have  made  it  possible  that  ages  hence  some  of  the  great  evils 
of  mankind  should  come  to  an  end,  that  some  tears  should 
be  forever  wiped  away,  and  a  fair  prospect  be  held  forth  of  a 
distant  future  of  humanity,  justice,  and  righteousness.  The 
victories  they  have  won  in  their  silent  struggles,  and  be- 
queathed to  us,  were  really  the  Gesta  Christi,  —  the  achieve- 
ments of  Christ. 

Christianity  purified  the  morals  of  woman,  bound  her  to 
sacred  duties  as  wife  and  mother,  pledged  her  to  labors  of 
humanity  when  single,  and  everywhere  sought  to  make  her 
worthy  of  the  homage  she  began  to  inspire.  It  changed  the 
low  idea  of  marriage,  common  even  in  the  German  tribes. 
It  protected  woman's  rights  and  her  property,  and  throughout 
Europe  encouraged  the  system  of  dower  which  was  so  impor- 
tant a  safeguard  in  a  wild  age.  Family  life  in  these  disturbed 
centuries  was  first  purified  by  the  religion  of  Christ,  and  from 
that  has  sprung  wliatever  of  good  now  exists  in  European 
social  liie.  The  best  human  condition  which  has  been  trans- 
mitted, which  gives  the  truest  fore-gleams  of  a  higher  earthly 
life  yet  to  be  attained,  is  marriage  ;  and  no  power  known  in 
history  has  doiK;  so  much  to  elevate  and  strengthen  that,  as 
the  teachings  of  the  great  Master. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  477 

CYRUS   A.    BARTOL. 

[Jesus  and  His  Critics.     Boston:  1S85.     Pp.  10,  11.] 

Are  great  men  so  plenty  we  can  aftbrd  to  throw  them 
away  ?  You  do  not  try  to  belittle  Homer,  Shakspeare, 
Alfred,  Milton,  Cadmus  the  Phoenician,  or  Columbus  the 
Genoese.  You  talk  of  Jesus  as  disappearing !  You  do  not 
ask  them  to  disappear  ;  and  he  will  not  vanish  from  the  mind's 
eye,  or  go  away  from  his  followers'  sight,  as  long  ago  he  did 
that  he  might  not  overpower  or  stand  between  and  eclipse 
God.  Free  religion,  so  called,  will  not  displace  Christianity, 
until,  beyond  notions  and  words,  it  shows  a  higher  than 
Christian  character.  Fine  persons  will  prevail  over  fine 
abstractions.  I  admire  talents  ;  but  goodness  is  the  greatest 
talent  of  all.     Men  may  be  radical,  and  also  very  low ! 

But,  does  one  inquire,  what  is  the  Christian  religion  but  a 
tradition  taking  the  place  of  the  fresh  inspiration  we  need  ? 
I  reply,  surely  the  same  Spirit  as  of  old  lives  and  works  and 
speaks.  It  is  not  dead  nor  dumb.  But  our  homage  is  for 
what  it  has  been  and  done  already.  Our  love  of  our  race  is 
for  what  it  has  been  and  done.  In  the  boat  of  humanity, 
containinof  more  than  Noah's  ark,  we  have  arrived  thus  far  on 
the  stream  of  time.  Could  you  cut  off  the  stream  behind,  the 
boat  would  not  go  on,  but  go  down  by  the  stern.  Only 
the  flow  far  back,  even  from  the  Eternal  Fount,  enables  her, 
and  us  in  her,  to  move  on  another  inch ;  and  we  will  not  throw 
over  the  chief  pilot  still  on  board,  till  we  can  pick  up  a  better 
on  the  way ;  for  he  that  steers  and  guides  also  feeds. 

I  saw  a  cloud  of  hundreds  on  hundreds  of  sparrows 
yonder;  and  I  marvelled  what  drew  them  so  together  on 
the  street,  till  I  saw  one  scattering  crumbs  from  a  doorway. 
Human  creatures  have  assembled,  and  still  meet,  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  the  Christ  ;  for  what  reason,  but  that  they  have  from 
his  hand  the  bread  of  life  ?  By  a  law  of  nourishment  and 
subsistence,  —  a  law  of  individual  and  social  and  civilized  man. 


478  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

however  the  critical  and  metaphysical  observer  in  his  watch- 
tower  of  lonely  observation  may  fancy  himself  above  it,  — 
the  condition  of  the  race,  from  Russia  to  the  United  States, 
by  this  Christ-ideal  has  been  lifted  and  sustained,  like  the 
continents,  by  a  central  force  of  fire,  above  the  level  of  the 
sea  ;  Jesus  in  his  humility,  like  a  strong  man  stooping  to 
raise  a  heavy  w^eight,  having  taken  hold  of  and  elevated  the 
world.  As,  when  America  or  Europe  rose  from  the  primeval 
flood,  all  the  shores  and  zones  rose  together,  so  mankind  in 
all  its  tribes  rises  at  once;  such  a  religion  as  ours  being  not 
the  only  exalting  power,  yet  a  main  motive  with  the  rest  that 
co-operate.  The  critic  says  the  figure  of  Jesus  has  to  be  pain- 
fully excavated  from  the  record  of  the  past.  But  he  will 
please  excuse  us  from  his  digging  ;  for  to  the  Christian  believer 
this  great  Leader  is  no  buried  statue,  as  on  the  Tiber  or  Po, 
and  no  fossil  remain,  —  but  a  livinof  form  outlined  with  ijurity, 
instinct  with  love,  and,  in  a  holy  imagination,  moving  and 
walking  still,  with  no  survivors  that  are  too  good,  or  that  need 
to  be  too  proud,  to  follow  in  his  steps. 

As  to  this  past,  whose  annals  we  think  so  long,  what  is  its 
memorial  but  a  speck,  a  pin's  point,  in  the  geological  and 
astronomical  time  of  which  no  register  remains  ?  I  profess  to 
you  that  every  so-called  ancient  worthy  I  read  of,  reflected  in 
the  mirror  of  my  mind,  appears  not  behind  but  before  me  ; 
and  on  the  circle  of  the  eternal  dial,  One  that  was  lowly  and 
lordly  at  the  head. 


JOHN    S.    C.   ABBOTT. 

[The  History  of  Christianity.     Boston:  iSSi.     Pp.  495,  496.] 

Socrates,  unenlightened  by  revelation,  simply  through  the 
teachings  of  his  own  honest  mind,  declares  him  only  to  be  a 
good  man,  who  tries  to  make  himself,  and  all  whom  he  can 
influence,  as  perfect  as  possible.  The  definition  which  Jesus 
gives  of  goodness,  even  more  comprehensive  and  bcauiilul. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  479 

is,  that  man  should  love  his  Father  God  with  all  his  heart, 
and  his  brother  man  as  himself.  This  is  the  only  real  good- 
ness,—  angelic  goodness,  divine  goodness.  Now,  it  maybe 
safely  said  that  you  cannot  find  at  the  present  time,  or  through 
all  past  ages,  a  truly  good  man,  in  either  of  the  above  defini- 
tions of  the  term,  whose  character  has  not  been  modelled  by 
the  principles  laid  down  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


ALFRED   EDERSHEIM. 

[The  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah.    New  York:  1SS4.    Vol.  i.  pp.  4S6,  487.] 

It  was  evening.  The  sun  was  setting,  and  the  sabbath 
past.  All  that  day  it  had  been  told  from  home  to  home  what 
had  been  done  in  the  synagogue  ;  it  had  been  whispered 
what  had  taken  place  in  the  house  of  their  neighbor  Simon. 
This  one  conviction  had  been  borne  in  on  them  all,  that  "with 
authority  "  he  spake,  with  authority  and  power  he  commanded 
even  the  unclean  spirits,  and  they  obeyed.  No  scene  more 
characteristic  of  the  Christ  than  that  on  this  autumn  evening 
at  Capernaum.  One  by  one  the  stars  had  shone  out  over  the 
tranquil  lake  and  the  festive  city,  lighting  up  earth's  darkness 
with  heaven's  soft  brilliancy,  as  if  they  stood  there  witnesses 
that  God  had  fulfilled  his  good  promise  to  Abraham. 

On  that  evening  no  one  in  Capernaum  thought  of  busi- 
ness, pleasure,  or  rest.  There  must  have  been  many  homes 
of  sorrow,  care,  and  sickness  there,  and  in  the  populous 
neighborhood  around.  To  them,  to  all,  had  the  door  of  hope 
now  been  opened.  Truly  a  new  sun  had  risen  on  them  with 
healing  in  his  wings.  No  disease  too  desperate,  when  even 
the  demons  owned  the  authority  of  his  mere  rebuke.  From 
all  parts  they  bring  them,  —  mothers,  widows,  wives,  fathers, 
children,  husbands,  —  their  loved  ones,  the  treasures  they  had 
almost  lost ;  and  the  whole  city  throngs,  a  hushed,  solemnized, 
overawed  multitude,  expectant,  waiting  at  the  door  of  Simon's 
dwelling.     There  they  laid  them  along  the  street  up  to  the 


480  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

market-place,  on  their  beds,  or  brought  them  with  beseeching 
look  and  word,  \\1iat  a  symbol  of  this  world's  misery,  need, 
and  hope!  what  a  s)mbol,  also,  of  what  the  Christ  really  is  as 
a  consoler  in  the  world's  manifold  woe  !  Never,  surely,  was  he 
more  truly  the  Christ,  nor  is  he  in  symbol  more  truly  such  to 
us  and  to  all  time,  than  when,  in  the  stillness  of  that  evening, 
under  the  starlit  sky,  he  went  through  that  suffering  throng, 
laying  his  hands  in  the  blessing  of  healing  on  every  one  of 
them,  and  casting  out  many  devils.  No  picture  of  the  Christ 
more  dear  to  us  than  this  of  the  unlimited  healing  of  whatever 
disease  of  body  or  soul. 


ALEXANDER    BALMAN    BRUCE. 

[The  Miraculous  Element  in  the  Gospels.    New  York:  1SS6.     Pp.  321-323, 

338-343] 

In  nothing  is  Christ's  essential  goodness  more  conspicu- 
ously apparent  than  in  that  department  of  his  conduct  in 
which  an  undue  passionateness  of  temper  is  supposed  to  have 
revealed  itself.  His  antagonism  to  Pharisaism  meant  zeal  for 
the  great  matters  of  the  law, — justice,  mercy,  and  faith, — 
neglected  under  a  system  which  devoted  exclusive  attention 
to  the  petty  rules  of  the  scribes ;  for  the  honor  of  God, 
whose  character  was  fatally  misrepresented  by  men  who 
claimed  to  be  in  specially  intimate  relations  with  the  Divine 
Being;  for  the  well-being  of  the  people,  tyrannized  over  by 
religious  guides  who  laid  on  their  shoulders  burdens  grievous 
to  be  borne,  and  cursed  them  when  they  refused  to  bear  their 
yoke,  it  revealed  the  purity  of  Christ's  spirit,  that  he  dis- 
cerned so  clearly  through  all  plausible  disguises  the  essen- 
tially immoral,  ungodly,  and  inhuman  character  of  Pharisaical 
righteousness  ;  it  marks  his  passionate  love  of  righteousness, 
that,  regardless  of  consequences,  he  had  the  courage  openly 
to  express  his  convictions  ;  and  it  shows  the  depth  of  these 
convictions,  that  he  persisted  in  giving  utterance  to  them  with 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  48 1 

ever-increacing-  intensity  of  language,  till  death  on  the  cross 
sealed  his  testimony. 

Along  with  intense  abhorrence  of  counterfeit  righteous- 
ness, the  negative  side  of  goodness,  Jesus  exhibited  in  his 
public  conduct  its  positive  side,  in  the  form  of  an  ardent  love 
to  man,  especially  to  the  poor,  the  suffering,  and  the  sinful. 
It  was  a  prominent  part  of  his  teaching,  that  love  fulfilled  the 
law  ;  and  if  that  be  a  true  doctrine,  he  must  be  allowed  to 
have  satisfied  the  law's  requirements.  No  fault  can  be  found 
with  him  here.  Faults,  many  and  grave,  were  found  in  his 
behavior  as  the  friend  of  man  while  he  lived  ;  but  these  faults 
are  now  seen  to  be  to  his  honor.  It  was  simply  because  his 
love  was  so  new  and  unparalleled,  that  he  was  blamed.  It 
overflowed  conventional  barriers,  and  men  exclaimed,  "  Be- 
hold a  man  gluttonous,  and  a  wine-bibber,  a  friend  of  publi- 
cans and  sinners  !  " 

Love,  in  Judaea  as  in  all  other  lands,  was  deemed  a  good 
thinof  within  certain  limits ;  but  love  exceeding  these  limits 
had  against  it  the  law  of  public  opinion,  and  average  attain- 
ment. It  was  wrong  to  love  social  and  moral  outcasts,  and 
unclean  Gentiles.  Jesus  demonstrated  at  once  the  originality 
and  greatness  of  his  love,  by  disregarding  all  such  artificial 
restrictions.  If  he  did  appear  to  submit  to  restrictions  in 
reference  to  Gentiles,  the  limitation  of  his  love  to  the  Jewish 
people  was  not  in  his  heart,  but  only  in  his  public  action.  He 
loved  Pagans  not  less  than  Israelites  ;  and  the  alleged  traces 
of  narrow  Jewish  prejudice  are  similar  to  the  imaginary  dis- 
coveries of  those  whose  philosophy  requires  them  to  convict 
him  of  imperfection.  In  his  heart  the  wall  of  separation  was 
already  broken  down,  and  the  sunny  isles  of  Greece  shook 
hands  with  the  barren  hills  of  Palestine. 

The  sun  is  known  by  the  brightness  of  his  beams :  no  one 
who  has  seen  both  daylight  and  night-light,  can  mistake  the 
moon  for  the  sun,  or  the  sun  for  the  moon.  Even  so,  simply 
by  looking  at  Jesus,  and  walking  in  the  light  of  his  teaching, 
we  discern  him  to  be  the  great  luminary  of  the  spiritual  world. 


482  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

The  Pure  One,  as  was  to  be  expected,  is  the  one  who 
most  clearly  sees  and  shows  the  nature  of  God,  and  of  man, 
and  of  righteousness.  The  clearness  of  his  vision  is  another 
proof  of  his  purity ;  for  the  source  of  his  knowledge  is  not 
books,  or  the  schools,  but  his  own  heart.  In  him  is  the  true 
light,  because  in  him  is  the  true  life.  But  the  point  at  pres- 
ent insisted  on  is,  that  the  light  of  Jesus  is  true,  genuine, 
sun-like.  Who  can  doubt  it  ?  What  better,  more  reasonable, 
more  acceptable,  doctrine  concerning  God  ever  has,  or  ever 
can  be,  tauo-ht,  than  his  doctrine  of  the  Divine  Fatherhood  ? 
Compare  with  it  the  doctrine  of  the  man  who  most  resembled 
Jesus  in  spirit,  —  Buddha,  the  "  Light  of  Asia," —  which  was, 
virtually,  that  there  is  no  God  distinct  from  the  order  of  the 
world.  Doubtless  the  verdict  of  modern  philosophy  may  be, 
that  Jesus  spake  the  more  poetically,  but  Buddha  the  more 
truly.  But  even  philosophers  may  yet  come  to  see  that 
poetry  and  truth  here  go  together ;  and  that  where  the  sub- 
ject of  thought  is  the  Eternal  Source  and  Centre  of  the 
Universe,  the  highest,  noblest,  most  beautiful  things  we  can 
think  are  likely  to  be  the  truest.  Judged  by  that  test,  noth- 
ing can  be  more  credible  than  Christ's  doctrine  of  God. 

Kindred  in  character,  and  equally  worthy  of  acceptance, 
was  his  doctrine  of  man  ;  which  was  in  effect  that  human 
nature  is  made  in  the  divine  image,  and  that  man  at  his  worst 
is  still  God's  son,  redeemable,  and  worth  redeeming.  Here, 
also,  he  may  be  thought  to  have  taught  rather  poetically  or 
pathetically  than  truly,  and  to  have  spoken  of  man  in  a  way 
that  does  credit,  indeed,  to  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  but 
does  not  reveal  deep  insight  into  truth.  But  here  again  the 
heart  is  seen  to  be  the  most  reliable  guide  to  truth,  and  love 
to  be  the  mother  of  wisdom.  The  loving  heart  of  Jesus  told 
him  that  the  people  who  were  given  up  as  helpless  by  the 
reputedly  wise  in  Israel,  were  not  irrecoverably  lost  to  God 
and  righteousness.  It  even  emboldened  him  to  believe  that 
the  last  might  become  first,  the  greatest  sinner  the  greatest 
saint  ;   that    from   the    \ery  scum   of  societ)-  might   come    the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  483 

most  devoted  citizen  of  the  divine  kingdom.  To  the  Phari- 
sees, such  ideas  appeared  wild  absurdities.  But,  after  all, 
who  was  right,  —  the  Son  of  man,  or  his  critics  who  so  often 
inquired,  "Why  doth  he  eat  with  publicans  and  sinners?" 

The  insight  of  Jesus  has  been  justified  by  the  history  of 
Christendom,  in  which  his  doctrine  of  the  worth  of  man  has 
borne  much  beneficent  fruit ;  by  the  long  roll  of  saints,  which 
include  many  who  loved  much  because  they  had  been  for- 
given much  ;  by  the  course  of  all  the  great  social  movements 
which,  as  Renan  has  pointed  out,  have  germinated  amid  the 
so-called  corruption  of  great  cities  ;  and  by  the  tendency  of 
modern  politics  to  transfer  power  from  the  privileged  aristoc- 
racies of  wealth,  blood,  and  culture,  to  the  great  masses  of 
the  people. 

In  teaching  these  two  doctrines,  Jesus  was  not  only  a  true 
light,  but  in  the  strictest  sense  a  light  of  the  world.  For  they 
are  the  fundamental  truths  of  universal  religion  ;  they  consti- 
tute together  a  gospel  of  hope  for  entire  humanity.  They 
are  not  only  free  from  all  particularistic  elements,  but  they 
exclude  these,  and  involve  the  abrogation  of  all  such  envious 
distinctions  and  restrictions  as  happen  to  exist.  God,  in  rela- 
tion to  man,  a  Father ;  man,  as  such,  his  child.  In  what 
country  could  these  simple  yet  momentous  propositions  be 
either  unintelligible  or  unwelcome  ? 

Jesus  occupies  a  different  position  tow^ards  the  kingdom 
from  that  of  ancient  seers.  To  them  it  was  a  land  afar  off, 
dimly  descried,  and  therefore  described  in  dim  outline.  He 
stands  within  the  kingdom,  and  speaks  of  all  things  pertaining 
to  it  as  matters  with  which  he  is  thoroughly  at  home.  There- 
fore his  words  concerning  the  kingdom  and  its  righteousness 
have  a  different  value  from  those  of  Old-Testament  prophets. 
Their  oracles  stand  written  indelibly  in  the  Hebrew  books  ; 
but  they  have  become  obsolete  descriptions  of  the  Messianic 
kingdom,  and  are  valuable  mainly  as  witnesses  to  the  exist- 
ence of  such  a  kingdom.  They  are  like  old  maps  of  countries 
known  to  exist,  but  comparatively  unexplored,  superseded  by 


484  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

new  maps  based  upon  information  supplied  by  travellers  who 
have  passed  through  the  once-unknown  lands  in  all  directions. 
The  words  of  Jesus  are  the  new  map  of  the  Divine  kingdom, 
which  supersedes  all  the  old  ones  with  their  large  blanks  and 
crude  outlines. 

One  feature  in  the  wisdom  of  Jesus  has  often  struck 
thoughtful  readers  of  the  Gospels,  which,  because  it  possesses 
moral  significance,  may  here  be  noticed.  The  wisdom  of  most 
sages  smells  of  the  lamp.  They  can  say  very  fine  things  if 
you  give  them  time  to  study  in  their  closets.  The  wisdom  of 
Jesus  is  unstudied  :  he  says  impromptu  the  best  possible 
things,  in  the  best  possible  way.  His  words  ?iX^  jeiix  d' esprit, 
—  inimitably  felicitous,  yet  as  profoundly  significant  as  if  they 
were  the  result  of  years  of  reflection.  "  Whyeateth  the  Mas- 
ter with  publicans  and  sinners  ?  "  —  "  They  that  be  whole  need 
not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  sick."  What  a  happy,  spir- 
ited, convincing  reply,  and  how^  pregnant  with  meaning  !  And 
so  it  is  always.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this  ?  Is  it  genius  ? 
Yes,  and  something  more.  It  points  to  a  high  habit  of  spirit- 
ual life.  Jesus  speaks  thus,  because  he  lives  in  the  unclouded 
region  of  truth.  We  labor  and  blunder  and  struggle  in  utter- 
ance, because  we  live  low  down  in  the  valley  of  moral  com- 
monplace. We  find  it  difficult  to  speak  wisely,  because  our 
lives  but  seldom  touch  the  heroic. 


A.    M.    FAIRBAIRN. 

[The  Ctty  of  God.     London:  1SS3.     Pp.  217,  21S,  235,  236,  303,  304,  312-314.] 

Time  and  culture  have  called  into  the  field  of  human 
thought  the  wealth  of  many  centuries  and  lands,  but  no  ri\al 
to  the  words  of  Jesus  has  come.  They  shine  peerless  as  ever, 
—  the  sweetest,  calmest,  simplest,  wisest  words  ever  spoken 
by  man  to  men.  So  true  are  they,  so  mighty  in  their  energy, 
so  soft  in  their  strength,  so  reasonable,  so  fitted  to  make  life 
peaceful,  gentle,  happ)'.  and  holy,  that  men  who  ha\e  wished 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  485 

not  to  believe  the  Christian  religion  have  often  refused  to  part 
with  the  truths  and  consolations  of  Jesus.  And  he  so  wove 
his  person  and  his  truth  together,  that  men  cannot  hold  by  it 
without  holding  by  him.  His  character  lends  their  highest 
charm  to  his  words  ;  his  words  find  their  most  perfect  mirror 
and  illustration  in  his  character.  No  one  ever  possessed  as 
he  did  that  hardest  and  noblest  veracity  which  consists  in  the 
absolute  agreement  of  doing  and  saying,  being  and  expres- 
sion. What  he  said  of  his  Father  in  heaven  becomes  intelli- 
gible to  us  through  the  way  in  which  he  lived  as  the  Son. 
The  universal  neisfhborliness  and  brotherhood  he  enforced 
and  declared  found  their  highest  sanction  and  example,  not  in 
his  parable  of  the  Good  Samaritan,  but  in  his  own  spirit  and 
conduct,  the  brotherliness  he  embodied.  The  law  of  forgive- 
ness he  proclaimed,  he  fulfilled  ;  and  the  prayer  on  the  cross, 
"  Father,  forgive  them,"  has  made  more  men  relent  and  be 
merciful  than  the  command,  "  Until  seventy  times  seven." 
The  truth  of  the  words  reflects  the  truth  of  the  person.  They 
are  imperishable  because  he  is  universal,  and  what  speaks  of 
him  may  not  die. 

We  may  not  compare  Jesus  with  the  authors  of  the  his- 
torical religions,  for  the  comparisons  could  be  but  a  series  of 
contrasts.  There  are,  indeed,  but  three  universal  religions,  — 
those  of  Mohammed,  Buddha,  and  Christ.  The  first  and  the 
last  may  not  be  spoken  of  together ;  historical  truth  will  allow 
neither  the  founders  nor  the  religions  to  be  compared.  With 
Buddha  it  may  seem  otherwise.  His,  as  seen  through  the 
traditions  of  his  people,  was  a  beautiful  spirit,  pious,  tender, 
full  of  great  love,  the  noblest  enthusiasm  for  humanity,  will- 
ing at  any  moment  to  become  a  sacrifice,  that  he  might  lift 
or  lighten  the  world's  pain.  Buddhism  has  produced  many 
excellent  virtues,  sweet  graces,  meekness,  benevolence,  love. 
But  the  comparison  becomes  at  every  point  a  fundamental 
contrast.  Buddhism  has  no  deity,  no  real  universalities  ;  may 
be  a  missionary  and  aggressive  religion,  but  is  not  a  religion 
that  evokes  and  satisfies  the  ideal  of  man,  making  him  thereby 


486  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

happier,  completer,  and  more  progressive.  The  rehgion  of 
Christ  is  one  of  boundless  hope,  but  the  religion  of  Buddha  is 
one  of  absolute  despair. 

Christ  came  to  reveal  the  Father  whence  we  came,  whither 
we  o-o,  and  in  whom  we  live  ;  but  Buddha  reveals  only  a 
vacant  heaven,  a  world  without  a  divine  heart  to  bleed  for  its 
sorrows  or  forgive  its  sins,  with  only  a  moral  order  to  control 
its  destinies,  punish  its  crimes,  and,  what  is  to  it  only  a  less 
evil  or  milder  form  of  penalty,  reward  its  virtues.  Jesus  loves 
life,  brings  it  and  immortality  to  light,  making  the  darkness  of 
death  only  the  shadow  of  eternal  day  ;  but  Buddha  hates  life 
as  it  now  is,  as  it  ever  will  be,  thinks  the  highest  bliss  is  to 
escape  into  everlasting  and  impersonal  quietude. 

Buddha's  is  a  pitiful,  but  not  a  human,  religion  ;  is  sad 
and  tender  over  the  sorrows  of  man,  but  does  not  awaken, 
uplift,  and  inspire  his  manhood.  Its  spread  is  the  decay  of 
humanity,  the  death  of  the  virtues  that  make  a  man  the  stren- 
uous doer  of  righteousness,  the  lover  of  liberty,  the  worker  of 
order  and  progress.  Christ  is  the  opposite  of  all  this  ;  and 
where  the  relictions  so  differ,  how  can  their  founders  be  com- 
pared?  And  so  we  say  again,  Christ  has  no  fellow:  he  stands 
alone.  Of  the  founders  of  the  great  historical  religions,  it 
may  be  said,  they  differ  as  star  from  star  in  glory  ;  but  of  him 
who  made  the  only  universal  religion,  we  must  say,  he  is  the 
Sun,  whose  rising  empties  heaven  of  stars  by  filling  it  with 
light. 

There  is  a  Christ  of  history,  and  a  Christ  in  history ;  and 
we  may  say,  if  the  one  seems  to  face  our  faith  like  a  contra- 
diction, the  other  faces  it  like  a  victorious  vindication.  If 
experience  has  proved  any  thing,  it  is  this :  the  necessity 
of  Christ  to  the  moral  well-being  and  s|)iritual  rest  of  man- 
kind. It  were  as  impossible  to  count  the  spirits  to  whom 
he  is  a  supreme  necessity  and  a  splenditl  joy,  as  it  would  be 
to  resolve  the  stars  that  lie  beyond  the  reach  of  the  most 
powerful   t(^lescope. 

As  the   stars  of  the  Milky  Way  are  able  from   their  very 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  487 

multitude,  while  singly  indistinguishable,  to  girdle  heaven 
with  a  zone  of  light,  so  a  cloud  of  witnesses  no  man  can 
number,  forms  the  glorious  pathway  of  Christ  down  the  ages, 
most  luminous  where  the  night  seems  darkest,  most  beautiful 
where  it  melts  into  the  light  of  day.  The  glory  that  lies 
about  his  path  adds  beauty  to  him  who  walks  in  it,  and  he 
comes  towards  us  clothed  in  the  radiant  crarments  woven  for 
him  by  a  faith  stronger  than  time,  by  a  love  mightier  than 
death,  —  "Jesus  Christ,  the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever." 

It  is  strancre  that  he  should  be  in  his  weakness  so  stronof, 
in  his  poverty  so  rich.  Men  love  power,  rank ;  feel  the  very 
drapery  it  wears,  to  be  a  thing  most  wonderful.  Majesty  may 
not  be  simple,  must  show  its  dignity  by  its  pomp,  prove  its 
might  by  its  magnificence.  An  Augustus  Caesar  cannot  suffer 
Rome  to  remain  a  city  of  republican  brick  ;  must  leave  it  a 
capital  of  imperial  marble.  But  here  is  the  wonder  of  his- 
tory :  the  mightiest  Person  it  knows  came  of  poverty,  and 
died  forsaken  and  alone.  Nay,  so  great  is  he,  that  the  regal 
state  had  lessened  rather  than  enlarged  the  majesty  of  his 
person  ;  the  imperial  purple  had  hidden  the  glory  which  the 
garments  of  his  poverty  revealed. 

Caesar,  placed  in  the  obscurity  which  beset  the  Christ,  had 
been  abolished  :  the  Christ,  placed  amid  the  splendors  of  the 
Caesars,  had  derived  thence  no  glory,  nothing  that  could  have 
added  any  thing  to  his  influence  or  his  fame.  Strength  like 
his  must  have  nothing  between  it  and  our  humanity ;  must 
meet  it  face  to  face,  in  naked  majesty  as  it  were,  that  it  may 
the  more  perfectly  subdue  the  evil,  and  command  the  good. 

"  The  riches  of  Christ,"  in  this  sphere  of  action,  we  may 
not  attempt  to  describe  ;  they  are  too  "  unsearchable."  Yet 
there  is  one  way  in  which  we  may,  as  at  a  glance,  see  and 
measure  their  extent  and  variety,  as  reflected  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  the  saved,  the  hearts  of  his  people.  Think  what  he 
has  been  and  is,  to  those  who  have  lived  and  yet  live  by  faith 
in  him.     Look  at  this  moment  over  Enoland,  over  the  conti- 


488  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

nents  of  the  East  and  the  West,  and  what  see  you  ?  Millions 
of  men  and  women,  burdened  with  sin,  laden  with  sorrow, 
troubled  with  the  anxieties  and  weariness  of  inconspicuous 
and  uneventful  human  life,  possessed  of  the  joys  too  common 
to  be  noted,  the  hopes  too  familiar  to  cheer,  have  met,  or  are 
meeting,  to  praise  his  name,  to  feel  for  an  hour  that  shall 
sanctify  days  penetrated  with  a  new  sense  of  the  mercy  of 
God,  lifted  into  fellowship  with,  and  into  participation  in,  his 
eternity. 

To-morrow,  when  the  tide  of  busy  life  rolls  high  and 
strong  through  our  streets,  it  may  seem  for  the  time  his 
reign  were  over  :  but  in  lone  garrets,  where  weakness  strug- 
gles with  want,  the  knowledge  of  his  presence  is  more  than 
strength  ;  in  rooms  made  dark  by  the  shadow  of  death,  his 
face  sheds  light  about  the  spirit,  and  gives  comfort  and  a 
courage  that  fears  no  evil.  He  is  active  every  moment,  and, 
at  the  touch  of  his  hand,  eyes  red  with  weeping  over  sin  or 
loss  grow  clear  and  calm ;  men  tempted  to  evil  turn  to  good ; 
and  those  sick  of  the  mean  ambitions  of  the  exchange  or 
the  senate  or  society  are  born  into  a  nobler  manhood  by  the 
faith  of  the  Son  of  God. 

Turn  now  toward  the  past,  and  ask  whether  any  conscious- 
ness has  been  so  rich  and  varied  in  its  riches  as  the  con- 
sciousness of  obligation  to  Christ.  Here  come  toward  us  an 
army  of  great  thinkers  led  by  Paul  the  Apostle,  bringing  in 
their  ranks  fathers  and  schoolmen,  reformers  and  statesmen, 
philosophers  and  divines,  —  men  who  by  arduous  thought 
have  builded  systems,  striven  to  interpret  the  universe,  to 
spell  out  the  mysteries  of  the  Divine  nature,  and  to  read  the 
riddle  of  the  human  ;  and  they  come  confessing  that  the  spring 
of  all  their  actions,  the  one  point  that  sheds  liglit  into  the 
darkness,  order  into  the  confusions  of  being,  was  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ. 

There  follow  an  imm(mse  host  of  poets,  headed  by  the 
great  masters  of  th(;  Christian  epic  ;  the  sad  and  banished 
Florentine  who  set  before  us  in  measures  of  wondrous  nuisic 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  489 

the  hell  that  was  a  pit  of  darkness  and  house  of  pain,  and  the 
heaven  which  was  a  mount  of  hght  and  home  of  joy ;  and 
the  still  sadder  Englishman,  whose  "  soul  was  like  a  star, 
and  dwelt  apart,"  whose  "  voice  had  a  sound  as  of  the  sea ; " 
and  they  bring  with  them,  out  of  many  ages  and  lands  and 
tongues,  the  singers  of  sweet  songs,  giving  words  and  wings 
to  the  faith  and  hope,  the  penitence  and  joy,  the  aspirations 
and  the  peace,  of  the  saved  soul ;  and,  as  the  host  advances, 
it  breaks  into  a  hymn  in  praise  of  him  who  woke  their  spirits 
to  music  by  filling  them  with  the  harmonies  of  his  own  rich 
love. 

And  who  are  these  that  stand  beside  the  poets  ?  Painters, 
are  they  not  ?  The  men  who  made  our  modern  art,  and  made 
it  so  full  of  light  and  tenderness  and  love,  an  interpretation 
of  the  grace  of  heaven  as  it  strove  to  create  the  graces  of 
earth.  Builders,  too,  are  there,  —  men  who  so  believed  and 
loved,  that  they  made  the  very  stone  quick  with  their  faith 
and  affection  ;  and  there,  too,  are  the  masters  of  music,  — 
men  who  heard  harmonies  human  speech  could  not  utter, 
and  translated  them  into  a  language  so  woven  of  multitudi- 
nous sweet  sounds,  that  the  many-voiced  orchestra  alone  can 
express  it. 

And  what  do  all  these  say  ?  To  whom  do  they  trace  their 
inspiration  ?  Whence  have  they  their  sublimest  theme  ?  Do 
they  not,  with  the  poets  and  thinkers,  the  saved  and  the 
saintly  of  all  Christian  ages  and  tongues,  join  with  one  accord 
to  ascribe  all  praise  unto  him  who,  "  though  rich,  yet  for  our 
sakes  became  poor,  that  we  through  his  poverty  might  be 
rich  "  ? 


JAMES    STALKER. 

[The  Life  of  Jesus  Christ.     Edinburgh:  1S80.     Pp.  78-80,  88,  138.] 

Love  to  men  was  the  passion  which  directed  and  inspired 
him.  How  it  sprang  up  and  grew  in  the  seclusion  of  Naza- 
reth, and  on  what  motives  it  fed,  we  have  not  been  informed 


490  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

with  an)-  detail.  We  only  know  that  when  he  appeared  in 
public  it  was  a  master-passion,  which  completely  swallowed  up 
self-love,  filled  him  with  boundless  pity  for  human  misery,  and 
enabled  him  to  go  forward,  without  once  looking  back,  in  the 
undertaking  to  which  he  devoted  himself.  We  only  know  in 
general  that  it  drew  its  support  from  the  conception  he  had  of 
the  infinite  value  of  the  human  soul.  It  overleaped  all  the 
limits  which  other  men  have  put  to  their  benevolence.  Dif- 
ferences of  class  and  nationality  usually  cool  men's  interest  in 
each  other.  In  nearly  all  countries  it  has  been  considered  a 
virtue  to  hate  enemies,  and  it  is  generally  agreed  to  loathe  and 
avoid  those  who  have  outraged  the  laws  of  respectability.  But 
he  paid  no  heed  to  these  conventions  ;  the  overpowering  sense 
of  preciousness  which  he  perceived  in  enemy,  foreigner,  and 
outcast  alike,  forbidding  him.  This  marvellous  love  shaped 
the  purpose  of  his  life.  It  gave  him  the  most  tender  and 
intense  sympathy  with  every  form  of  pain  and  misery.  It 
was  his  deepest  reason  for  adopting  the  calling  of  a  healer. 
Wherever  help  was  most  needed,  thither  his  merciful  heart 
drew  him. 

The  crowning  attribute  of  his  human  character  was  love  to 
God.  It  is  the  supreme  honor  and  attainment  of  man,  to  be 
one  with  God  in  feeling,  thought,  and  purpose.  Jesus  had 
this  in  perfection.  To  us  it  is  very  difficult  to  realize  God. 
The  mass  of  men  scarcely  think  about  him  at  all,  and  even 
the  godliest  confess  that  it  costs  them  severe  effort  to  disci- 
pline their  minds  into  the  habit  of  constantly  realizing  him. 
When  we  do  think  of  him,  it  is  with  a  painful  sense  of  dis- 
harmony between  what  is  in  us  and  what  is  in  him.  We 
cannot  remain  even  for  a  minute  in  his  presence  without  the 
sense,  in  greater  or  less  degree,  that  his  thoughts  are  not  our 
thoughts  nor  his  ways  our  ways.  With  Jesus  it  was  not  so. 
He  realized  God  always.  He  never  spent  an  hour,  he  never 
did  an  action,  without  direct  reference  to  him. 

God  was  about  him  like;  the?  atmosphere  he  breathed,  or 
the   sniili'-lu   in  which   he  walked.      His  thouohts  were   God's 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  491 

thoughts,  his  desires  were  never  in  the  least  different  from 
God's  ;  his  purpose,  he  was  perfectly  sure,  was  Ood's  purpose 
for  him.  How  did  he  attain  this  absolute  harmony  with  God  ? 
To  a  large  extent  it  must  be  attributed  to  the  perfect  harmony 
of  his  nature  within  itself,  )et  in  some  measure  he  got  it  by 
the  same  means  by  which  we  laboriously  seek  it,  —  by  the 
study  of  God's  thoughts  and  purposes  in  his  Word,  which,  from 
his  childhood,  was  his  constant  delight ;  by  his  cultivating,  all 
his  life  long,  the  habit  of  prayer,  for  which  he  found  time  even 
when  he  had  not  time  to  eat ;  and  by  patiently  resisting  temp- 
tations to  entertain  thoughts  and  purposes  of  his  different  from 
God's.  This  it  was  which  Qrave  him  such  faith  and  fearlessness 
in  his  work.  He  knew  that  the  call  to  do  it  had  come  from 
God,  and  that  he  was  immortal  till  it  w^as  done.  This  was 
what  made  him.  with  all  his  self-consciousness  and  originality, 
the  pattern  of  meekness  and  submission  ;  for  he  was  forever 
brineingr  everv  thought  and  wish  into  obedience  to  his  Father's 
will.  This  was  the  secret  of  the  peace  and  majestic  calmness 
which  imparted  such  a  grandeur  to  his  demeanor  in  the  most 
trying  hours  of  his  life.  He  knew  that  the  worst  that  could 
happen  to  him  was  his  Father's  will  for  him,  and  this  was 
enough.  He  had  ever  at  hand  a  retreat  of  perfect  rest,  silence, 
and  sunshine,  into  which  he  could  retire  from  the  clamor  and 
confusion  around  him.  This  was  the  great  secret  he  bequeathed 
to  his  followers  when  he  said  to  them  at  parting,  "  Peace  I  leave 
with  you,  my  peace  I  give  unto  you."   .   .   . 

The  sinlessness  of  Jesus  has  often  been  dwelt  on  as  the 
crowning  attribute  of  his  character.  The  Scriptures  which  so 
frankly  record  the  errors  of  their  very  greatest  heroes,  such  as 
Abraham  and  Moses,  have  no  sins  of  his  to  record.  There  is 
no  more  prominent  characteristic  of  the  saints  of  antiquity  than 
their  penitence  ;  the  more  supremely  saintly  they  were,  the 
more  abundant  and  bitter  were  their  tears  and  lamentations 
over  their  sinfulness.  But,  although  it  is  acknowledged  by 
all  that  Jesus  was  the  supreme  religious  figure  of  history,  he 
never  exhibited  this  characteristic  of  saintliness :  he  confessed 


492  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

710  sin.  Must  it  not  have  been  because  he  had  no  sin 
to  confess  ?  Yet  the  idea  of  sinlessness  is  too  negative  to 
express  the  perfection  of  his  character. 

He  was  sinless,  but  he  was  so  because  he  was  absolutely 
full  of  love.  Sin  against  God  is  merely  the  expression  of 
lack  of  love  to  God  ;  and  sin  against  men,  of  lack  of  love  to 
men.  A  being  quite  full  of  love  to  both  God  and  man  cannot 
possibly  sin  against  either.  This  fulness  of  love  to  his  Father 
and  his  fellow-men,  ruling  every  expression  of  his  being, 
constituted  the  perfection  of  his  character.   .   .   . 

No  life  ends  for  this  world  when  the  body  by  which  it  has 
for  a  little  time  been  made  visible  disappears  from  the  face  of 
the  earth.  It  enters  into  the  stream  of  the  ever-swelline  life 
of  mankind,  and  continues  to  act  there  with  its  whole  force 
forevermore.  Indeed,  the  true  magnitude  of  a  human  being 
can  often  only  be  measured  by  what  this  after-life  shows  him 
to  have  been.  So  it  was  with  Christ.  The  modest  narrative 
of  the  Gospels  scarcely  prepares  us  for  the  outburst  of  crea- 
tive force  which  issued  from  his  life  when  it  appeared  to  have 
ended.  His  influence  on  the  modern  world  is  the  evidence 
of  how  8freat  he  was  ;  for  there  must  have  been  in  the  cause 
as  much  as  there  is  in  the  effect.  It  has  overspread  the  life 
of  man,  and  caused  it  to  blossom  with  the  vigor  of  a  spiritual 
spring.  It  has  absorbed  into  itself  all  other  influences,  as  a 
mighty  river,  pouring  along  the  centre  of  a  continent,  receives 
tributaries  from  a  hundred  hills.  And  its  quality  has  been 
even  more  exceptional  than  its  quantity. 

But  the  most  important  evidence  of  what  he  was  is  to  be 
found  neither  in  the  general  history  of  modern  civilization, 
nor  in  ..le  public  history  of  the  visible  Church,  but  in  the 
experiences  of  the  succession  of  genuine  believers,  who  with 
linked  hands  stretch  back  to  touch  him  through  the  Christian 
generations.  The  experience  of  myriails  of  souls,  redeemed 
by  him  from  themsc^lves  and  the  world,  proves  that  history 
was  cut  in  twain  b)'  the  appearance  of  a  Regenerator,  who 
was  not  a  mere  link   in   the  chain  of  common   men,  but  one 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  493 

whom  the  race  could  not  from  its  own  resources  have  produced 
—  the  perfect  type,  the  Man  of  men. 

The  experience  of  myriads  of  consciences,  the  most 
sensitive  to  both  the  hoHness  of  the  Divine  Being  and  their 
own  sinfuhiess  that  the  world  has  ever  seen,  yet  able  to  rejoice 
in  a  peace  with  God  which  has  been  found  the  most  potent 
motive  of  a  holy  life,  proves  that  in  the  midst  of  the  ages 
there  was  wrought  out  an  act  of  reconciliation  by  which  sinful 
men  may  be  made  one  with  a  holy  God.  The  experience  of 
myriads  of  minds,  rendered  blessed  by  the  vision  of  a  God 
who  to  the  eye  purified  by  the  word  of  Christ  is  so  completely 
light  that  in  him  there  is  no  darkness  at  all,  proves  that  the 
final  revelation  of  the  Eternal  to  the  world  has  been  made  by 
one  who  knew  him  so  well  that  he  could  not  himself  have 
been  less  than  divine. 

The  life  of  Christ  in  history  cannot  cease.  His  influence 
waxes  more  and  more.  The  dead  nations  are  waiting  till  it 
reach  them,  and  it  is  the  hope  of  the  earnest  spirits  that  are 
bringing  in  the  new  earth.  All  discoveries  of  the  modern 
world,  every  development  of  juster  ideas,  of  higher  powers, 
of  more  exquisite  feelings  in  mankind,  are  only  new  helps  to 
interpret  him  ;  and  the  lifting-up  of  life  to  the  level  of  his 
ideas  and  character  is  the  programme  of  the  human  race. 


GEORGE    C.    LORIMER. 

[Introduction  to  Stalker's  Life  of  Christ.     Chicago:  1881.     Pp.  3,  4.] 

The.  life  of  Christ  is  an  exhaustless  theme.  It  reveals  a 
character  of  greater  massiveness  than  the  hills,  of  serener 
beauty  than  the  stars,  of  sweeter  fragrance  than  the  flowers, 
higher  than  the  heavens  in  sublimity,  and  deeper  than  the 
seas  in  mystery. 

Christ  in  history  is  undoubtedly  more  marvellous  than 
Christ  in  Galilee.  Since  his  ascension  he  has  removed  from 
the  nations  the  veil  of  mental  darkness,  has  imparted  moral 


494  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

health  to  entire  communities,  has  satisfied  the  long-ino-s  of 
millions  for  the  imperishable  bread,  and  has  rescued  tribes, 
races,  and  peoples  from  the  dreariness  of  spiritual  death. 

For  nearly  nineteen  centuries  he  has  been  the  real  leader 
of  the  world's  progress.  Its  majestic  movements,  surprising 
revolutions,  startling  reformations,  upheavals,  convulsions,  and 
transformations  are  traceable  to  his  influence.  His  name,  and 
the  power  of  his  name,  are  written  in  the  learning,  art,  science, 
government,  of  all  these  ages;  and  they  blaze  conspicuously 
on  the  fair  brow  of  modern  civilization.  How  intensely  inter- 
esting and  how  immensely  important,  then,  must  be  the  biog- 
raphy that  explains  the  secret  of  such  measureless  potency, 
and  that  lays  bare  the  cause  of  such  gigantic  and  practically 
boundless  sovereignty ! 

Only  in  the  faithful  record  of  the  life,  —  in  the  narrative 
of  its  origin,  surroundings,  vicissitudes,  peculiarities,  and  con- 
summation,—  can  the  true  solution  of  the  problem  involved 
be  discovered  ;  and  it  is  this  conviction  that  leads  so  many 
thoughtful  students  to  lavish  the  wealth  of  their  learning  on 
biographies  of  Jesus,  and  that  constrains  so  many  more  ear- 
nest inquirers  to  ponder  unweariedly  the  results  of  their  labors. 
They  alike  delve  among  the  roots,  that  they  may  understand 
the  flower ;  they  dive  into  the  spring,  that  they  may  compre- 
hend the  stream  ;  they  uncover  the  footprints,  that  they  may 
measure  the  feet ;  and  they  lift  once  more  the  dead  hand  into 
life,  that  they  may  ascertain  how  it  sways  so  mighty  a  sceptre. 


EDWARD    CLODD. 

[Jf.suS  OF  Nazahktii.     London:   iSSo.     Pp.  359,  360.] 

That  which  Jesus  did  was  to  diffuse  a  common  spirit  of 
sweet  charity  and  selflessness  among  men  regarded  as  a 
brotherhood,  because  the  offspring  of  one  Father;  and  to  pull 
his  sayings  apart,  in  search  for  this,  were  as  vain  as  to  scatter 
the   petals  of  a  flower  that  we  mioht  sec  the  scent.      \'o\-  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  495 

highest  truth  is  that  which  cannot  be  defined  or  prisoned  in 
any  form  of  words;  and  the  secret  of  the  enduring  influence 
of  Jesus  is  in  this,  that  he  announced  principles  of  world-wide 
application,  leaving  men  free  to  connect  them  with  any  out- 
ward forms  if  they  so  willed,  )et  ever  reminding  them  that 
"  the  letter  killeth,  and  the  spirit  giveth  life."   .   .   . 

The  love  of  God  shown  forth  in  love  of  man,  which  was 
but  a  maxim  of  repeaters  in  his  time,  and  to  w4iich  all  gave 
assent  of  lip,  but  few  assent  of  life,  was,  so  to  speak,  arrested 
in  him,  and  drew  toward  him  the  quenchless  affection  of  the 
sinful  and  the  suftering.  This,  more  than  all  the  creeds  about 
him,  is  the  secret  of  an  influence  which,  bounded  by  a  few 
months  and  a  narrow  tract  of  country,  has  filled  centuries 
since  from  East  to  West  with  adoring  followers,  and  kept 
aglow  their  ardor  to  serve  him  and  their  fellow-men.  And  if 
it  moves  us  to  like  service,  our  life  cannot  be  vain  or  harmful ; 
because  it  will  nourish  and  diffuse  the  spirit  which,  dwelling  in 
high-souled  men  of  other  lands  and  ages,  abode  in  richest 
measure  in  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


CHARLES    BEARD. 

[Unitarian  Christianity.     London:  i88r.     Pp.  131,  137,  142,  145,  149.] 

"  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ? "  There  is  a  sense  in  which 
this  is  the  deepest  and  most  urgent  question  that  theology 
can  ask.  .  .  .  But  it  is  something  more  than  a  mere  theologi- 
cal question.  Upon  the  answer  which  we  give  to  it  depends 
our  whole  interpretation  of  human  history-  for  the  last  eighteen 
hundred  years.  .  .  .  For  putting  aside  all  specifically  theolo- 
gical considerations,  and  looking  at  the  matter  from  the  simply 
human  and  historical  point  of  view,  Christ  is  the  strongest, 
most  endurinor,  most  vivid  force  that  was  ever  introduced  into 
the  world.  Measured  by  the  mere  amount  and  weight  of 
their  actual  influence,  the  greatest  names  pale  before  his. 
Plato  has  not  moulded  so  many  minds ;  Alexander  did  not  so 


496  TESTIMONY  OF  NIXETEEN   CENTURIES 

change  the  course  of  history  ;  the  unity  which  Rome  imposed 
upon  civiHzed  peoples  extended  over  a  smaller  area  than  the 
unity  of  Christendom ;  Buddha  and  Mohammed  won  their 
triumphs  over  only  the  secondary  races  of  the  world.  It  was 
the  strangest  and  most  unexpected  of  intellectual  revolutions, 
—  a  revolution  which  Tacitus  and  Seneca  would  have  con- 
temptuously pronounced  impossible,  —  that  Jerusalem  should 
teach  Athens  and  Rome  ;  now  stranger  still  to  us,  for  we 
recognize  it  as  the  religious  blending  of  Semitic  with  Aryan 
thought. 

Whence  this  brilliant  manifestation  of  the  force  and  beauty 
possible  to  humanity  ?  Whence  these  pregnant  and  piercing 
words,  this  winning  charm  of  goodness,  this  inspiring  faith  in 
human  nature,  this  completeness  of  self-consecration,  this 
sureness  of  ethical  touch,  this  clearness  of  religious  insight, 
this  abiding  sense  of  God's  help  and  presence  ?  When  we 
look  at  Christ,  what  are  we  to  think  of  patriarchs  and  prophets 
of  old,  of  all  sweet  singers  in  Israel,  of  the  strength  of  the 
hero,  and  the  whiteness  of  the  saint,  and  the  wisdom  of 
the  rabbi  ? 

Still  more,  can  we  brinor  into  relation  to  him  the  old 
Greek  sages,  with  their  earnest,  childlike  search  into  the 
mysteries  of  the  universe  ?  The  latest  Evangelist  supplies 
the  answer.  All  wisdom,  all  goodness,  all  strength,  are  but 
manifestations  of  that  Word  of  God,  that  Divine  Reason, 
which  is  his  essence.  The  true  light  is  known  by  its  univer- 
sality :  it  is  the  light  that  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into 
the  world.  It  shineth  in  darkness,  and  the  darkness  compre- 
hendcth  it  not ;  but  not  the  less  is  it  the  source  of  all  truth, 
the  inspircr  of  all  goodness,  the  light  of  all  our  seeing,  the 
life  ot  all  our  strength.  No  human  soul  but  is  warmed  and 
illumined  by  some  spark  of  this  divine  fire,  —  a  fire  that, 
however  neglected  and  quenched,  can  never  be  wholly  extin- 
guished while  there  are  those  whom  it  kindles  into  heroism, 
or  moulds,  alter  long  discipline,  into  saintliness,  or  inspires 
with  thoughts  that  breathe  and  words  that  burn. 


UrVfKmMIH 


O      ffl 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  497 

And  Christ  is  the  finished  manifestation  of  what  God  can 
and  will  do  for  a  faithful  human  soul.  He  is  the  perfected  type 
of  a  process  which  is  begun  in  every  man,  yet  complete  in  none. 
He  is  the  most  signal  proof  of  the  fact  that  God  is  not  only 
about  us  and  above  us,  but  in  us.  Humanity  finds  its  highest 
realization,  not  in  stoical  self-reliance,  but  in  childlike  trust  ; 
he  is  most  truly  man  who  stands  in  closest  union  with  God. 
Christ  is  the  first-born  of  many  brethren  :  humanity  claims 
him  as  its  own.  His  strength  is  our  strength,  his  victory  our 
victory,  his  God  our  God  ;  the  help  which  was  his  waits  for 
us  also,  and  he  leads  us  into  the  presence  of  the  universal 
Father. 

I  find  no  fault  in  Jesus.  To  criticise  his  words,  to  sub- 
ject his  actions  to  keen  dissolvent  analysis,  to  form  another 
estimate  of  his  career  than  that  which  lies  on  the  surface  of 
the  record,  —  are  things  which  would  never  have  suggested 
themselves  to  me.  I  am  content  to  abide  in  the  admiring 
love  of  a  disciple.  I  am  ready  to  believe  that  even  in  words 
of  Christ  w^hich  I  only  half  understand,  there  are  unexplored 
depths  of  wisdom.  I  do  not  wish  any  speech  of  Christ's 
unspoken,  or  any  deed  of  his  undone.  To  me,  words,  char- 
acter, life,  are  blended  into  full  harmony,  and  unite  to  form 
"  one  entire  and  perfect  chr^'solite."  When  new  religions 
ask  my  allegiance,  or  philosophy  assures  me  that  in  the  light 
of  fresh  knowledre  it  is  time  to  have  done  with  religion,  I 
am  content  to  say  with  Peter,  "Lord,  to  whom  shall  I  go  ? 
Thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life." 

It  is  possible  to  make  an  anthology  from  Greek  poets  and 
philosophers,  from  Roman  moralists,  from  the  traditions  of 
the  rabbinical  schools,  from  the  records  of  Indian  wisdom,  in 
which  every  moral  precept  of  the  New  Testament  shall  find 
a  place.  Such  an  anthology  could  not  indeed  be  substituted 
for  the  New  Testament  ;  it  would  have  neither  life,  fire,  nor 
constraining  force ;  but  it  would  show  that  upon  the  ethical 
field  little  had  been  left  for  Christ  to  discover  and  proclaim. 
But  that  is  so  far  from  being  a  weakness  of  Christianity,  as 


498  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

some  persons  thoughtlessly  suppose,  as  in  fact  to  constitute 
a  large  part  of  its  strength.  For  it  is  not  the  nice  distinctions 
of  casuistry  which  sway  men,  or  any  unfamiliar  reading  of  the 
facts  and  obligations  of  life,  were  such  possible  ;  but  the  moral 
impulses  which  have  been  slowly  accumulating  in  the  blood 
of  many  generations,  and  are  to  wake  into  action  at  a  powerful 
voice  of  inspiration. 

A  great  writer  of  our  own  country  died  with  the  simple 
words  upon  his  lips,  "  Be  good,  my  dears,  be  good."  It  is 
the  one  thing  needful.  We  all  understand  it.  There  can  be 
no  intellectual  originality  in  the  statement  of  it,  but  how  to 
utter  it  with  so  persuasive  a  voice  as  to  touch  the  heart,  and 
quicken  the  conscience,  and  steel  the  will.  This  is  precisely 
the  marvellous  power  of  Christ :  not  that  he  saw  life  in  an 
ethically  new  light,  but  that  he  poured  around  old  affections 
and  obligations  a  lio^ht  and  a  charm  all  his  own.  And  this  it 
is,  too,  which  makes  the  universality  of  his  moral  claim.  His 
distinctive  principles,  if  he  can  truly  be  said  to  have  any,  are 
as  wide  as  human  nature.  They  underlie  difterences  of  age, 
sex,  race,  circumstance,  and  go  down  to  those  depths  of 
humanity  in  which  we  are  all  alike.  There  is  no  uncorrupted 
heart  which  they  do  not  make  throb  with  a  quicker  pulse. 
There  is  no  unspoiled  conscience  in  which  they  do  not  wake 
an  answering  echo. 

Shall  we  say,  then,  that  Christianity  was  no  more  than  a 
finer  Judaism  ?  Or  was  there  nothing  in  Christ's  theism 
which  gave  it  a  color  of  Its  own  ?  Yes,  the  characteristic 
theology  of  the  Gospel  is  shut  up  in  one  word :  God,  the 
Infinite,  the  Omnipotent,  the  Eternal,  the  Maker  and  Ruler 
of  countless  worlds,  is  the  Father  of  mankind,  in  the  hollow 
of  whose  hand  we  He  always,  who  has  numbered  the  very 
hairs  of  our  heads,  who  watches  over  us  with  a  very  perfect 
love  and  a  compassion  that  cannot  change.  No  one  will  ask 
me  to  prove  that  this  Is  an  idea  unknown  to  ethnic  religions 
and  philosophies  ;  but  it  may  not  have  occurred  to  you  how 
there  is  in  the  Old  Testament  only  the  faint  adumbration  of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  499 

it.  The  great  religious  poet,  to  whom  we  owe  the  one 
hundred  and  third  Psahn,  does  not  speak  of  it  except  in  the 
hesitating  voice  of  metaphor :  "  Like  as  a  father  pitieth  his 
children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him."  The  later 
Isaiah  comes  nearest  to  it  when  he  says,  "  Doubtless  thou 
art  our  Father,  though  Abraham  be  ignorant  of  us,  and  Israel 
acknowledge  us  not." 

But  these  utterances,  which  stand  almost  if  not  quite 
alone  in  the  old  Hebrew  literature,  beautiful  and  touching 
as  they  are,  fall  far  short  of  the  grand  and  infinitely  pathetic 
thought  of  Christ,  —  that  there  is  no  weak,  ignorant,  sinful, 
rebellious  son  of  Adam,  but  may  lift  up  hands  of  supplication 
to  the  All- Holy,  with  the  cry,  "  Abba,  Father  ;  "  and  that  as  no 
earthly  father  who  was  worthy  of  the  name  could  ever  close 
his  heart  to  the  son  of  his  flesh,  who,  whatever  his  offences 
against  the  sweet  sanctities  of  home,  longed  with  the  longing 
of  genuine  repentance  for  return  and  pardon,  so  God  is  not 
only  always  waiting  to  be  merciful,  but  goes  out  to  meet  the 
prodigal  on  the  way.  This,  to  me,  is  the  centre-point  and 
heart  of  Christianity.  It  differentiates  it  from  all  religions 
before  or  since.  I  should  look  upon  faithfulness  or  unfaith- 
fulness to  it,  as  indicatinor  the  true  relation  of  a  man  or  a 
church  to  Christ. 


ADOLF   HAUSRATH. 

[History  of  the  New-Testament  Times.     London:  1880.     Pp.  145,  147.] 

Those  have  been  called  geniuses  and  God-sent  prophets 
who  "  once  again  go  back  to  the  beginning,"  and  present  a 
new  question  to  the  world.  The  new  question  which  Jesus 
presented  was  the  word  directed  to  the  God  of  the  Jews : 
Art  thou  truly  a  God  of  wrath  ?  and  is  the  world  truly  misera- 
ble only  because  thy  curse  rests  upon  it  ?  The  law  answered 
Yes,  to  this  question  ;  but  the  whole  world  answered  a  thou- 
sand times.  No.  This  it  was  which  appeared  to  the  people 
so  surprising,  new,  and  comforting  in  his  preaching,  the  word 


500  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

new  to  Israel,  that  God  was  the  loving  Father 'of  men.  The 
fundamental  presupposition  of  all  Judaism,  and  the  motive 
power  of  all  Pharisaic  laboriousness,  was,  in  fact,  the  convic- 
tion that  God  was  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  sins  of  the 
fathers  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  gen- 
eration. If  the  Pharisee  busied  himself  about  fulfilling  a 
thousand  minute  scrupulous  precepts,  if  the  Essene  afflicted 
himself  in  circumspect  loneliness,  if  the  Sadducee  made  him- 
self of  importance  in  the  temple  service  and  sacrifices,  if  the 
people  were  filled  with  anguish  at  the  sense  of  their  estrange- 
ment from  God,  and  God's  desertion  of  them,  it  was  because, 
as  the  pivot  of  their  whole  theory  of  life,  stood  the  belief 
in  an  angry  and  avenging  God,  who  inexorably  demands  a 
righteousness  for  which  he  has  nevertheless  made  man  much 
too  weak.  Then,  in  the  very  face  of  all  the  signs  of  the 
Divine  wrath,  which  weigh  upon  the  people,  and  set  the 
activity  of  the  masters  in  Israel  in  motion,  there  comes  a 
new  prophet  with  the  message,  never  heard  before,  that  God 
is  the  P^ather  of  men,  and  that  he  has  loved  them  from  the 
very  beginning  of  the  world  ;  and  in  proof  of  this  he  points 
to  the  lilies  of  the  field,  and  the  birds  of  the  air.  That  an 
eternal  compassion  is  poured  upon  the  world,  that  an  eternal 
love  watches  over  the  turmoil  of  human  life  as  much  as  over 
the  stillness  of  the  lonely  hillside,  —  this  had  his  heart  first 
discovered  in  that  secret  communion  with  God,  which  caused 
him  to  say,  "No  man  knoweth  the  Father,  save  the  Son."  .  .  . 
We  have  now  come  to  a  point  at  which  the  new  that 
is  coming  into  existence  can  no  longer  be  derived  in  any 
way  from  existing  conditions,  but  springs  immediately  from 
the  personal  spiritual  life  of  Jesus.  How  came  Jesus  to 
recognize  God  as  the  Father  ?  is  a  question  which  men  have 
already  attempted  to  answer  on  purely  contemporary  historical 
grounds.  From  contemplating  the  errors  into  which  Judaism 
fell  when  seeking  to  reconcile  her  angry  God,  say  some.  But 
then,  others  also  had  seen  these  aberrations,  and  yet  had  not 
cried,  Abba,  Father.     Was  it  in  contemplating  the  glory  which 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  50 1 

God  has  poured  over  his  world  ?  But  the  HHes  of  Gahlee 
have  bloomed  for  others  also,  and  the  heavens  were  equally 
blue  for  Pharisee  and  Sadducee.  Consequently  all  such 
attempts  at  derivation  are  futile.  It  is  the  personality  which 
is  the  source  whence  the  historical  antecedents  immediately 
spring-,  and  where  the  Interpretation  of  the  operating  condi- 
tions ends.  Here  is  the  thread  which  leads  immediately  to 
the  region  of  Divine  creating ;  and  not  even  can  a  secular 
genius,  nor  a  true  individuality,  be  demonstrated  to  be  the 
mere  resultant  of  antecedent  circumstances.  This,  however, 
we  can  say :  This  strength  of  the  filial  consciousness  could 
have  been  developed  only  in  a  mind  which  was  pure,  blame- 
less, and  sinless  in  the  sight  of  the  Deity,  in  which  all  human 
restlessness  and  discontent  were  removed,  upon  which  lay  no 
anguish  of  a  finite  world,  no  tormenting  consciousness  of 
being  only  a  mere  fraction  of  that  which  it  ought  to  have 
been. 

The  sinful  man,  the  stained  or  even  the  merely  disturbed 
conscience,  must  always  see  God  opposed  to  himself  as 
wrathful  and  avenging ;  but  the  revelation  that  God  is  the 
Father  of  men  could  only  arise  in  a  mind  in  which  the  image 
of  God  was  reflected  undisturbed,  because  the  mirror  was 
without  blemish.  The  revelation  of  God  as  the  Father  is  the 
strongest  proof  of  the  absolutely  normal  state  of  the  human 
nature  in  Jesus. 

JOHN    MONRO   GIBSON. 

[The  Fouxdations.     Chicago:  18S0.     Pp.  80-S4.] 

You  cannot  think  of  a  single  excellence  of  character  that 
does  not  shine  out  in  the  wonderful  life  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
If  you  take  single  features  separately  you  may  be  able  to  think 
of  some  of  earth's  great  ones  whom  you  could  put  beside  him ; 
but  when  you  take  the  combination  of  them  all,  he  manifestly 
stands  absolutely  alone.  Not  only  is  there  not  in  all  history 
one  single  person  that  can  stand  beside  him,  but  there  is  not 


502  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

in  all  fiction  a  single  ideal  character  that  will  bear  comparison. 
Even  such  distinguished  character-painters  as  Shakspeare,  for 
example,  or  George  Eliot  in  our  own  time,  who  have  had  all 
the  advantage  of  his  character  to  model  after,  do  not  in  their 
loftiest  creations  approach  to  the  elevation  and  grandeur  of 
the  character  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  as  depicted  in  the  simple 
language  of  the  Four  Evangelists. 

Now  consider,  for  a  moment,  what  a  strong  position  we  have 
here.  We  could  even  build  an  argument,  apart  from  histori- 
cal evidence,  at  this  point.  There  we  have  before  us  the  life 
of  Christ  by  Matthew,  However  it  came  there,  there  it  is. 
That  life  was  either  a  creation  of  Matthew,  as  Hamlet  was  a 
creation  of  Shakspeare,  or  else  it  is  a  true  portraiture  of  what 
Christ  actually  was.  If  it  was  a  creation  of  Matthew's  genius, 
then  this  Matthew,  who  seems  to  have  been  quite  an  obscure 
man,  must  have  had  a  superhuman  genius,  so  that  even  Shak- 
speare himself  could  not  compare  with  him.  Do  you  believe 
that?  And,  even  if  you  could,  the  question  would  still  remain, 
How  could  it  happen  that  there  should  be  four  men  of  such 
transcendent  genius  at  the  same  time,  whose  creative  powers 
all  led  them  to  produce  the  same  character  from  different 
points  of  view,  and  yet  these  same  men  be  all  unknown  to 
fame  in  any  other  way  ?  The  idea  is  in  the  last  degree  absurd. 
Nobody  believes  it,  or  can  believe  it.  Since,  then,  the  char- 
acter of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  not,  as  it  certainly  could  not 
be,  the  creation  of  these  four  men,  it  follows  that  it  is  a  true 
portraiture  of  what  this  Jesus  actually  was.  And  if  the  very 
conception  of  such  a  character  cannot  be  accounted  for  except 
on  the  supposition  of  superhuman  genius,  how  much  less  can 
the  actual  living  of  such  a  life  be  accounted  for  on  any  other 
supposition  than  that  he  who  lived  it  was  indeed  what  he 
solemnly  claimed  to  be,  —  "  the  Christ  of  God  "  ! 

The  evidence  of  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  which  his  char- 
acter furnishes  is  one  which  grows  upon  you  more  and  more, 
the  more  you  examine  into  it.  It  is  (]uite  possible  to  read 
the  Four  Gospels  over  and  over  again  without  discovering  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  503 

wonders  of  the  character  which  they  depict ;  but  let  any  one 
make  It  a  matter  of  earnest  thought  and  careful  study,  and  he 
will  continually  discover  new  features  to  admire,  and  new  com- 
binations of  excellences  that  are  never  found  in  combination 
in  other  lives.   .   .  . 

From  his  life  we  pass  to  his  words.  Claiming,  as  he  does, 
to  be  the  revealer  of  God,  we  should  reasonably  expect  not 
only  a  superior  character,  but  superior  wisdom.  If  what  he 
says  be  poor,  empty,  or  of  little  consequence,  or  If  It  be  only 
a  reflection  of  the  mind  of  his  age,  with  all  Its  errors  and 
imperfections  traceable  through  it,  then  we  may  set  aside  his 
claim,  because  his  spoken  words  do  not  bear  it  out.  But  is  It 
so  ?  Do  not  his  spoken  words  bear  it  out  ?  Can  it  not  be 
said  with  as  great  emphasis  as  ever,  after  so  many  centuries 
of  progress,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man  "  ? 

Take  the  first  discourse  we  meet  with  as  we  turn  the  pages 
of  the  first  Evangelist,  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Is  it  feeble? 
Is  there  any  thing  in  all  literature  that  can  be  placed  beside 
it  ?  Is  it  not  as  fresh  as  ever  to-day  ?  Does  not  every  line  of 
it  bear  out  his  claim  to  speak  in  the  name  of  God  ?  Or  take 
the  last  discourse  in  the  upper  room,  beginning,  "  Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled."  Where  can  you  find  any  thing  in  all 
literature  outside  of  the  Bible,  that  has  been  cherished  as  these 
words  have  been  cherished,  or  that  has  brought  such  conso- 
lation to  millions  of  troubled  hearts  ?  From  first  to  last,  the 
words  he  speaks  amply  justify  his  claim. 

Think,  too,  how  easily  these  words  of  wisdom  fall  from 
him.  He  does  not  retire  to  his  study  (he  seems  to  have  had 
none),  and  read  what  the  philosophers  before  him  had  written, 
and  painfully  think  out  a  system  of  truth.  He  stands  on  the 
grassy  plain,  or  In  the  little  boat  beside  the  shore,  or  anywhere, 
and  pours  out,  without  the  slightest  effort,  though  only  turned 
thirty,  such  words  of  heavenly  wisdom  as  the  greatest  of  the 
philosophers,  after  a  long  life  given  to  study  and  meditation, 
or  even  all  the  philosophers  of  the  world  together,  after  all 
their  labor,  had  never  been  able  to  equal.      Does  not  this. 


504  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

too,  correspond  with  his  claim  ?  He  needs  no  stimulus  of  an 
appreciative  audience,  even,  to  draw  out  his  powers.  When 
he  speaks  to  an  obscure  woman,  who  has  come  to  draw  water 
at  the  well  where  he  is  resting  in  the  heat  of  the  day,  his  words 
are  as  full  of  thought  and  heavenly  wisdom  as  when  the  great 
multitudes  are  thronging  around  him. 


THOMAS    HILL. 


[The  Natural  Sources  of   Theology.     Reprinted  from  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  October, 

1874,  and  January,  1875.] 

We  were  recently  reading  to  a  friend  the  report  of  a  scene 
in  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  The  superintendent 
of  the  Coast  Survey  had  poured  out  with  great  earnestness  a 
chapter  of  his  "  Linear  Associative  Algebra,"  which  he  deemed 
of  the  highest  importance  ;  but  it  was  necessarily  clothed  in 
language  perfectly  unintelligible  to  a  majority  of  his  hearers. 
When  he  had  closed,  and  all  were  sitting  in  silent  bewilder- 
ment, Agassiz  arose,  and  said  in  substance,  "  I  must  confess 
that  I  have  not  understood  one  word  of  this  communication  ; 
but  I  have  heretofore  had  such  ample  reasons  for  believing 
in  the  speaker's  clearness  and  soundness  of  thought,  that  I 
accept  what  he  has  now  said  as  undoubtedly  true,  and  un- 
questionably to  become  of  great  practical  value."  When  I 
had  finished  reading  the  anecdote,  my  friend  surprised  me 
by  saying  with  decisive  clearness,  "  That  is  precisely  my 
position  with  regard  to  Jesus  Christ.  Jesus  assures  me  of 
the  paternal  character  of  God,  and  of  the  immortality  of  the 
individual  soul ;  how  he  gets  his  knowledge,  I  do  not  know ; 
I  cannot  see  those  truths  clearl)'  written  on  the  world,  nor 
on  the  soul ;  without  Christ  I  could  only  hojje  they  were  true : 
but  I  have  seen,  and  do  see,  so  many  proofs  of  the  wonderful 
wisdom  and  clearness  of  thought  and  holiness  of  character  in 
Jesus  Christ,  that,  when  he  says  that  he  knows  they  are  true, 
I  believe  that  he  does  know.     Theorizers  may  debate  as  they 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  505 

will  concerning-  the  character  and  degree  of  his  inspiration, 
in  what  manner  or  sense  he  was  an  incarnation  of  God  :  it  is 
enough  for  me  that  the  whole  record  of  the  New  Testament 
gives  me  perfect  faith  in  his  wisdom,  his  holiness,  and  his 
truth,  so  that  when  he  says  that  he  knows  that  God  is  our 
Father,  I  know  that  he  knows  it,  and  therefore  I  know  it." 
Nor  was  my  friend  unwise,  much  less  unreasonable,  in  thus 
accepting,  upon  the  authority  of  competent  testimony,  truths 
consonant  with  the  intuitions  of  his  soul,  but  beyond  the 
reach  of  his  faculties  to  attain. 

Christian  saints  believe,  and  we  devoutly  believe  with 
them,  that  the  great  light  which  is  to  break  upon  us  when 
the  shadows  of  death  flee,  has  already  dawned  and  spread 
its  reviving  light  from  over  the  hills  of  Galilee.  They  find 
in  the  person  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  a  light  clearer  than  the 
noonday  sun,  and  revealing  to  us  more  truth  than  the  light 
of  nature  ever  could  reveal.  They  recognize  in  him  an 
image  of  God,  answering,  far  more  perfectly  than  any  ideal 
being  whom  we  could  portray,  to  our  best  conceptions  of 
perfection.  The  ineffable  tenderness  of  his  love  towards 
men,  the  gentleness  of  his  dealings  with  sinners,  give  men 
a  confidence  which  no  mere  words  could  give,  that  the  awful 
sacrifice  on  Calvary  was  indeed  for  the  many,  for  the  remis- 
sion of  their  sins  ;  and  that  he  who  thus  suffered  rose  again, 
to  pour  down  upon  his  Church  the  manifold  gifts  of  the 
Spirit. 

It  has  not  pleased  him  to  make  further  revelations  of 
truth  concerning  God  than  was  necessary  for  the  salvation 
of  sinners ;  and  upon  those  truths,  or  upon  nearly  all,  we  had 
a  glimmering  light  before  Christ  came.  But  he  has  made  the 
important  truths  plain  and  certain  ;  such  truths  as  these.  — 
that  God  is,  through  Christ,  reconciling  men  unto  himself; 
that  he  will  forgive  those  who  trust  in  Christ  for  forgiveness, 
and  turn  away  from  sin  ;  that  he  will  inspire  such  with  a  new 
power  to  live  holy  and  useful  lives ;  that  both  the  Father  and 
the  Son  dwell  in  the  heart  of  a  penitent  believer,  and  fill  him 


5o6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

with  the  Holy  Spirit  that  leads  to  victory  over  the  tempter, 
over  sin  and  death.  The  history  of  the  Christian  Church 
abundantly  witnesses  the  truth  of  these  promises.  In  that 
Church,  despite  its  manifold  corruptions,  failures,  and  sins, 
there  has  always  been  a  large  body  of  men  distinguished  for 
excellence  of  priv^ate  character,  far  beyond  those  who  have 
been  alien  from  the  Church.  With  this  excellence  of  charac- 
ter has  been  joined  clearness  and  strength  of  religious  faith. 
The  fact  that  in  all  communions  of  the  Christian  world  we 
find  the  holiest  and  purest  men  substantially  agree  on  the 
great  doctrines  of  religion  and  morality,  and  that  the  best 
and  clearest  thinkers  of  other  great  religions  agree  in  the 
same  essential  doctrines  of  central  Christianity,  is  in  itself  a 
very  strong  argument  in  support  of  those  doctrines,  an  evi- 
dence both  of  the  truth  of  these  points  in  natural  religion 
indorsed  by  Christ,  and  of  the  value  of  his  indorsement. 


JOHN    WORDSWORTH. 

[The  Oxe  Religion.     New  York:   iSSi.     Pp.  210,  212.] 

Even  if  we  take  human  ideals  at  their  best,  not  at  their 
worst,  we  may  be  thankful  that  we  are  not  left  to  ourselves  to 
frame  the  pattern  of  the  God-man.  Observing  what  virtues 
are  chiefly  valued  by  mankind,  apart  from  the  exceptional  and 
transient  thoughts  of  one  or  two  philosophers,  we  can  easily 
picture  the  Christ  who  would  have  been  created  by  human 
imagination.  In  the  first  place,  he  would  have  been  many, 
and  not  one.  To  the  Oriental  mind,  generally,  he  would  have 
been  the  embodiment  of  gigantic  force ;  to  the  Persian,  per- 
haps, of  truthfulness  and  labor  ;  to  the  Chinese,  of  regularity 
and  dutifulness  ;  to  the  Greek,  of  beauty  and  intelligence  ;  to 
the  Roman,  of  imperial  majesty;  to  the  Teuton,  of  calmness 
and  thoughtfulness.  Other  races  would  have  had  other  noble 
thoughts  of  like  sort.  I^^ach  nation  would  have  endowed  him 
with  the  best  ([ualities  of  its  own  character,  omittinor  the  rest. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  507 

But  the  supreme  virtues  of  holiness  and  humiHty  would  have 
been,  to  all  appearances,  omitted  by  all. 

It  needed  the  actual  appearance  of  Christ  in  the  flesh  to 
give  unity  and  reality  to  these  ideals,  and  to  give  them  those 
qualities  which  they  all  lacked.  It  needed  the  manger  of 
Bethlehem,  and  the  village  seclusion  of  Nazareth,  and  the 
little  success  of  his  ministry  in  Judsea  and  Galilee,  and  the  re- 
jection by  his  own  people,  and  the  mocking  of  Pilate's  judg- 
ment-hall, and  the  marring  of  his  visage  upon  the  cross,  and 
the  whole  life,  in  its  outer  seeming,  capable  of  despite  and 
disreo-ard.  All  this  was  needed  to  fulfil  God's  design  in  turn- 
ing  men  forcibly  back  from  belief  in  power  and  glory,  and 
even  duty  and  labor  and  truthfulness,  to  belief  in  simple  good- 
ness as  the  ideal  of  man's  offering  to  God.  Holiness  and 
humility  are  the  foundation  of  the  Christian  character,  and  of 
all  that  is  best  in  modern  life.  Holiness  and  humility  shine 
out  from  every  page  in  the  New  Testament ;  but  the  world 
would  have  never  known  and  loved  them,  had  they  not  been 
visibly  set  forth  in  Christ.  It  is  something,  that  the  world  to 
some  extent  does  love  them,  and  has  acknowledged  itself 
conquered  by  the  cross. 


ROBERT    A.    WATSON. 

[Gospels  of  Yesterday.     London:   1888.     Pp.  215,  216.] 

In  Jesus  Christ  the  Divine  light  of  compassion  and  right- 
eousness burns  into  a  focus,  the  clear  radiance  of  which 
illuminates  the  dark  regions  of  human  experience.  What 
is  Mr.  Arnold's  Christ?  An  accident,  —  a  unique  and  fortu- 
nate accident  of  human  development  ?  An  absolute  f  But 
why?  How  can  Mr.  Arnold,  on  his  own  premises,  be  so  sure 
that  Christ  is  an  absolute  9  Wliy  not  Plato  ?  Why  not 
himself?  .  .  .  The  supremacy  of  Jesus,  —  what  is  it?  That 
of  One  who  confidently  ofters  our  race  what  no  other  acknowl- 
edged leader  ever  thought  of  offering  in  his  own  name,  —  his 


5o8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

own  power.  And  yet  he,  in  whom  we  reverence  a  majestic 
type  never  reaHzed  elsewhere,  of  truth,  dignity,  and  holiness, 
is  not  self-centred,  but  testifies  of  his  relation  to  a  Father 
who  sent  him,  —  a  Father  to  whom  we  also  are  related,  to 
whom  we  must  come  to  be  one,  as  he  is.  He  sweetens 
responsibility  to  us  by  undertaking  duties  like  ours,  a  burden 
like  that  we  have  to  bear ;  and  his  life  and  death  bring 
redemption  by  lifting  us  out  of  sin  and  weakness  into  his 
own  freedom  and  exaltation,  his  own  life  of  obedience  and 
love,  which  is  eternal. 


G.    FREDERICK   WRIGHT. 

[The  Logic  of  Christian  Evidences.    Andover:  iS8o.     Pp.  137,  146,  148,  266,  281.] 

From  whatever  point  of  view  we  regard  the  Gospel  his- 
tory, Christ  intensifies  beyond  measure  the  antecedent  argu- 
ment for  personal  immortality.  If  the  Christ  of  the  New 
Testament  is  divine,  what  an  exalted  creature  must  man  be, 
to  be  worthy  of  such  a  visitation ! 

"  My  God  !  what  is  a  heart. 
That  thou  shouldst  it  so  eye  and  woo, 

Pouring  upon  it  all  thy  art, 
As  if  that  thou  hadst  nothing  else  to  do?" 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  Christ  be  naught  but  human,  what 
must  humanity  be,  that  it  has  given  forth  such  a  flower  as  a 
product?  And  what  must  the  appropriate  fruitage  of  that 
blossoming  be  ?  Or,  if  the  character  of  Christ  be  a  m)'th, 
how  marvellous  the  mythical  which  produced  it !  If  a  fabri- 
cation, how  lofty  the  conceptions  of  the  fabricator!  On  any 
theory  regarding  the  history  of  Jesus,  man  is  revealed  of  such 
proportions,  that  immortal  life  is  the  appropriate  complement 
of  this. 

Looking  first  at  the  positive  results  of  Christianity,  we 
observe,  that,  notwithstanding  the  disabilities  of  his  earthly 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  509 

condition,  the  Christian  bcHever  does  learn  to  look  upon  the 
personal  temptations,  disappointments,  infirmities,  and  sor- 
rows of  this  life,  as  blessings  in  disguise,  and  that  to  him 
death  itself  is  robbed  of  its  terrors. 

Through  weary  years  of  sickness,  the  invalid  is  sustained 
by  the  Christian  hope  that  all  things  work  together  for  good 
to  them  that  love  God. 

In  view  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  New 
Testament,  the  countenance  of  the  mourner  lights  up  with 
smiles,  and  he  rejoices  in  saying,  "  Not  my  will,  but  thine,  be 
done." 

Through  the  promises  of  the  Gospel,  the  poverty-stricken 
have  hope  of  treasures  that  cannot  be  taken  away ;  and  those 
of  a  humble  heart  have  faith  that,  though  despised  of  men, 
nothing  can  separate  them  from  the  love  of  Christ,  The 
widow  and  orphan  are  comforted  in  their  sorrow.  The  lowly 
are  set  on  high.  Through  the  overmastering  hope  of  a 
Christian  faith,  the  death-bed  of  the  believer  becomes  like 
the  couch  of  a  weary  traveller.  To  the  Christian  hero,  it 
matters  not  where  death  may  overtake  him. 

"  Heaven  is  as  near  by  water  as  by  land." 

It  may  come  as  to  Sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  with  book  in  hand, 
calmly  waiting  for  the  waves  and  storm  to  do  their  utmost ; 
or  as  to  Sir  John  Franklin,  amid  the  unknown  snows  of 
arctic  wastes ;  or  as  to  Livingstone,  amid  the  pestilential 
swamps  of  Africa ;  or  as  to  Havelock,  on  the  hard-won  field 
of  Lucknow.  Our  friends  may  die  far  from  us,  in  the  ever- 
glades of  Florida,  or  on  the  plains  of  Mexico,  or  they  may 
die  at  home :  in  any  case,  death  removes  them  from  our 
sight,  and  remits  their  bodies  to  their  original  dust;  but  the 
hope  of  life  and  immortality,  brought  to  light  through  the 
Gospel  of  Christ,  equally  remains  to  comfort  in  bereavement, 
and  to  stimulate  to  patient  continuance  in  well-doing. 

Through  the  New-Testament  doctrine  of  Divine  forgive- 
ness, and  through  the  assistance  to  virtue  furnished  by  the 


5IO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

history  of  Christ,  this  hope  of  a  hfe  to  come  becomes  a  most 
powerful  incentive  to  noble  action  among  great  multitudes 
of  the  human  race.  The  whole  present  civilization  of  the 
world  is  permeated  with  these  thoughts.  They  have  stamped 
themselves  on  our  art  and  literature,  and  on  our  laws  and 
institutions.  .  .  . 

The  aro-ument  for  the  genuineness  and  authenticitv  of  the 
New-Testament  history  is  not  complete  till,  to  the  perfection 
of  complicated  historical  adjustment,  and  subtile  internal  har- 
mony, already  indicated,  there  are  superadded  some  further 
statements  touching  the  originality  and  the  beauty  of  the 
character  of  Jesus,  and  concerning  the  simple  and  unaffected 
style  of  the  narratives  in  which  it  is  portrayed. 

We  cannot  refrain  from  remarking  also,  that,  though  from 
one  point  of  view  we  speak  of  the  biographies  of  Jesus  as 
artless,  from  another  they  must  be  pronounced  the  consum- 
mate embodiment  of  the  highest  design,  —  but  such  design 
as  is  elsewhere  observable  only  in  the  works  of  nature,  and 
may  here  be  denominated  supernatural.  The  New-Testa- 
ment narrative  is  too  large  in  its  conceptions,  and  too  free 
from  errors  and  incongruities,  for  us  to  regard  it  as  any  thing 
but  genuine  history,  even  though  in  this  case,  as  so  often  in 
others,  truth  should  prove  stranger  than  fiction. 

Adopting  the  happy  expression  of  Mr.  INIartineau,  that 
nothing  can  be  evolved  from  nature  which  is  not  first  involved, 
w-e  ask  what  there  was  in  the  times  when  Jesus  lived,  to  pro- 
duce his  character,  and  to  make  its  influence  so  potent  in  the 
world  ?  Is  the  character  of  Jesus  the  natural  product  of  his 
age  ?     Or  w^as  he  from  above  ? 

How  harmonious  have  been  the  lineaments,  and  how 
powerful  the  picture,  which  the  world  has  ever  beheld  in  the 
character  of  Jesus  as  delineated  by  the  fishermen  of  Galilee! 
From  generation  to  generation,  adoring  millions  have  ad- 
dressed him  as  their  "  Redeemer,"  —  "the  Anointed  King  of 
Israel,"  —  and  "the  Son  of  the  living  God."  And  yet  with 
what  singular  indifference  to  apparent  eflect,  as  if  themselves 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  5  1 1 

enchanted  by  their  own  work,  did  these  men  throw  away  the 
brush  the  moment  his  form  was  sufficiently  outhned  for  those 
in  distant  ages  to  see  it !  The  utmost  effect  seems  to  have 
been  produced  with  the  smallest  amount  of  material. 

No  other  personage  in  history  is  so  vividly  portrayed  by  his 
biographers  as  Jesus  ;  and  yet  the  brevity  of  the  Gospels,  and 
the  dispassionate  character  of  their  narrative,  is  most  remark- 
able indeed.  The  moderation  and  self-restraint  of  the  first 
disciples,  as  depicted  in  the  New  Testament,  is  by  itself  a 
most  conclusive  answer  to  the  charge  of  self-delusion  ;  for,  in 
view  of  ordinary  experience,  it  is  incredible,  that,  in  recording 
the  life  and  sayings  of  the  Master  whose  power  they  repre- 
sented as  so  great,  and  whose  spirit  so  charged  and  absorbed 
their  own,  the  four  Evangelists  should  have  limited  them- 
selves to  twenty  or  thirty  chapters  apiece,  and  should  have 
abstained  so  scrupulously  from  attempting  to  gratify  the  idle 
curiosity  of  man. 

EDWARD   FARWELL   HAYWARD. 

[EcCE  Spiritus.     Boston:   1S81.     Pp.  52-54,  125-129,  136-138,  140.] 

Jesus  is  the  phenomenal  Man  by  reason  of  no  attainment 
of  virtue  which  merely  outshines  the  ordinary  in  the  degree  of 
its  possession  of  his  nature,  but  because  of  the  dominance 
in  him  of  a  manhood  distinct  in  consciousness  and  standard 
from  any  yet  seen  or  inculcated.  He  had  not  to  give  them 
any  thing,  for  he  possessed  no  arbitrary  power,  but  simply  to 
bring  out  that  which  was  latent  in  them,  to  life.  They  were 
spiritual  in  possibility,  but  did  not  know  it ;  and  herein  lay 
the  key  to  the  sadness  of  the  situation.  Jesus,  seeing  man 
from  another  standpoint,  did  not  merely  ask  him  to  accept 
this  or  that  virtue  or  abandon  that  vice,  but  demanded  an 
entire  change  of  outlook,  working  down  at  the  roots  of  being, 
and  purifying  the  springs  of  action  at  their  source.  It  was 
more  than  a  revelation,  — a  revolution  sweeping  and  radical, 
which  was  to   leave  nothing  unchanged  in  the  structure  of 


512  TESTIMONY  OF  NLXETEEN  CENTURIES 

man's  thoughts  and  motives.  It  was  man  he  modified,  not 
the  teaching  of  the  schools. 

Our  measure  of  the  highest  in  man  must  answer  to  a 
threefold  test :  it  must  be  that  which  is  rarest,  most  compre- 
hensive, and  most  exalted.  That  spirituality  meets  the  first 
condition,  the  age  in  which  Jesus  lived,  as  well  as  every  sub- 
sequent one,  sufficiently  attests.  The  cultured  are  to  the 
uncompromising  as  a  million  to  one.  The  perception  of  good 
is  far  in  advance  of  its  realization.  Consciousness  speaks 
once  of  things  real  and  eternal,  where  speculation  and  doubt 
are  heard  a  thousand  times. 

That  it  is  comprehensive,  no  one  will  question  when  it  is 
seen  to  include  all  there  is  of  a  man,  all  that  can  go  to  the 
make-up  of  his  possible  holiness,  all  science,  culture,  art, 
equally  the  true,  the  beautiful,  the  good.  It  refuses  no  fact, 
and  scorns  no  inspiration.  It  welcomes  all  into  the  mighty 
human  possibility.  It  absorbs  from  all  sides,  but  never  com- 
promises, never  ceases  in  its  inclusiveness  to  remain  itself, 
one  and  entire. 

It  takes  all  there  is  of  a  man  to  be  spiritual  —  head,  heart, 
limbs,  and  life  ;  all  thought,  all  emotion,  all  love,  while  spirit- 
uality is  itself  their  co-ordination  or  control.  It  will  not  be 
classified  nor  divided,  is  neither  morality  nor  religion,  but 
that  in  which  they,  as  ministering  functions,  become  one. 
The  reason  why  there  are  so  few  spiritually  great  characters 
is  because  of  the  almost  irresistible  human  tendency  to  be 
one-sided  and  partial.  Men  of  the  latter  description  are  the 
kind  of  men  we  commonly  remark  and  honor ;  while  the  spir- 
itually great,  by  reason  of  the  roundness  and  balance  of  their 
faculties,  often  escape  the  notice  so  easily  gained  by  the  nar- 
row specialist.  There  are  religionists  great  in  organization, 
pietists  with  a  peculiar  genius  for  evangelization,  moralists 
apt  at  precept.  There  are  natures  fiery  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  reform,  or  dry  and  compendious  with  the  nicely  graded 
ethics  of  tlie  schools.  But  the  race  of  tuhole  men  began  and 
ended  with  Jesus.      Me  was  no  specialist,  neither  ascetic  nor 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  513 

prodigal,  certainly  not  a  moralist  in  the  sense  that  Moses  and 
Confucius  were,  and  least  of  all  an  ecclesiastic.  His  man- 
hood was  complete  and  entire,  yet  through  all  the  spiritual 
was  distinct  and  dominant. 

Yet,  although  he  was  inclusive  and  cosmopolitan  in  the 
matter  of  his  human  interests,  his  breadth  did  not  diminish 
the  loftiness  of  his  range.  If  there  were  none  broader  than 
he,  there  was  also  none  more  exalted.  He  would  stop  no 
step  this  side  of  the  Supreme  Being.  It  was  God,  uncondi- 
tional purity  and  truth,  life  consciously  akin  to  divine  life,  he 
alone  accepts.  He  put  every  thing  but  this  under  his  feet, 
and  could  in  that  act  go  no  higher.  His  spirituality  does  not 
despise  the  earth  ;  but  it  has  a  winged  step,  and  moves  high 
up  among  the  realities. 

Jesus  assumed  no  pedagogic  gown,  stepped  upon  no 
rostrum,  and  accepted  no  acolytes  that  were  not  able  to  live 
the  life  he  did.  The  hand  of  anointing  had  been  laid  within  ; 
and  he  had  little  to  say,  but  vast  life  issues  to  work  out  and 
enforce.  His  first  and  only  disputation  was  in  the  temple, 
but  all  his  positive  and  authoritative  utterances  were  given  in 
the  fields  or  the  living  rooms  of  humble  people,  into  the 
sphere  of  which  his  earliest  inclinations  led  him.  Indeed, 
there  has  been  nothing  more  painful  to  the  countless 
Christians  who  have  looked  for  light  from  him  amid  the 
inadequacies  and  cruelties  of  the  creed,  than  this  paucity  of 
utterance. 

Why  did  he  say  so  little,  where  so  much  was  needed  ? 
And  yet,  more  would  have  been  too  much.  The  minute  he 
had  formulated  any  thing,  we  should  stop  there,  and  there 
would  be  no  longer  any  hope  of  life.  He  gives  us  the  ger- 
minal truth,  the  all-inclusive  principle,  not  in  its  abstraction, 
nor  yet  in  its  complete  logical  statement,  if  such  a  thing 
were  possible  of  a  living  and  eternally  progressive  reality,  but 
in  vital  personal  fusion.  Make  the  life  yours,  and  you  have 
it  all.  But  Jesus  declines  to  do  the  work  for  us,  and  utterly 
refuses  to  surround  the  one  pure  spiritual  influence  the  world 


5  14  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

has  had,  with  the  dangers  of  attempted  definitions.  Christi- 
anity must  not  be  caught  in  a  mesh  of  words,  but  must 
remain  a  hfe  influence,  tending  toward  Hfe.  We  hear  the 
sound  of  the  Spirit,  and  know  absolutely  of  its  reality  and 
power,  but  happily  cannot  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it 
goeth,  except  as  these  things  are  in  God. 

Jesus  cared  not  where  he  gathered  his  congregation. 
Indeed,  it  was  always  round  him,  and  his  method  was  the  yet 
untried  one  of  nature.  He  put  his  heart  close  to  the  bare, 
empty  spots  in  human  experience,  and  whispered  low,  or 
uttered  forth  in  silence  the  living  language  of  that  answer 
which  had  been  wrought  out  in  him.  He  did,  in  truth, 
enlighten  and  enlarge  the  comprehension  of  men,  and  infi- 
nitely elevate  their  outlook ;  but  he  was  not  a  dogmatist,  and 
had  little  to  do  with  the  teacher's  superficial  methods.  He 
struck  at  the  roots  of  being,  using  such  instruction  as  the 
situation  unconsciously  required.  But  he  was  peculiar  in 
this :  that,  so  far  as  he  was  a  teacher,  he  addressed  himself  to 
the  very  quick  of  conscious  experience.  He  had  a  wonderful 
faculty  of  keeping  down  to  the  vital  need.  He  reveals  him- 
self in  the  fact,  not  in  the  elaboration  of  his  message.  He 
addresses  the  experience  and  the  motives  with  a  subtler  logic 
than  that  of  the  intellect,  which  the  intellect  nevertheless 
confirms  and  strengthens  at  every  point. 

Jesus  is  the  only  character  of  history  who  impresses  him- 
self deeply  upon  human  thought  and  life,  and  has  had  an 
enduring  claim  to  grateful  remembrance,  simply  by  reason  of 
what  he  was.  Unlike  others,  he  cannot  be  contemplated  out- 
side of  his  work,  nor  can  his  work  be  separated  from  him. 
His  work  had  become  personal,  and  himself  a  doubly 
energized  personality. 

Then  for  the  first  time  in  history  appeared  a  man  who  was 
himself,  utterly,  wholly,  unreservedl)\  The  message  he  bore 
had  become  a  revelation  in  and  through  himself,  so  that,  while 
he  in  no  sense  elaborates  spirituality,  he  yet  lives  and  enforces 
it.     What  he  said  has  value  as  teaching,  but  his  mission  was 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  5  1 5 

SO  close  to  life  that  it  can  be  fully  received  only  by  some 
degree  of  spiritual  contact. 

Spirituality  is  the  only  thing  you  cannot  teach.  The 
higher  the  sutgect,  the  farther  is  it  removed  from  prescribed 
methods  of  instruction.  We  can  teach  letters,  but  not  life. 
The  latter  impresses  us  more  directly,  turning  mental  pro- 
cesses into  motives.  We  can  impart  all  symbols,  types,  and 
illustrations  of  life,  but  not  that  elusive  but  most  central  reality 
which  inheres  in  and  appeals  to  consciousness  alone.  Con- 
sciousness can  be  quickened,  awakened,  formed,  but  not 
informed  from  any  outside  source.  It  can  gain  every  thing, 
but  be  given  nothing.  What  another  has  can  never  be 
ours  ;  but  we  may  be  so  moved  by  him  as  in  time  to  possess 
like  realities. 

Manifestly,  one  can  teach  nothing  of  God,  except  that 
which  he  himself  knows ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  truisms  of 
spiritual  experience,  that  what  we  know  of  God  we  can  never 
tell.  Our  neighbors  will  in  countless  ways  discover  the  fact, 
which  we  shall  shrink  from  even  the  attempt  at  uttering,  just 
in  proportion  to  the  genuineness  of  our  knowledge.  Lan- 
guage is  a  wonderful  vehicle  in  the  hands  of  a  master,  but  it 
utterly  fails  to  circumscribe  the  facts  of  consciousness.  The 
nomenclature  of  a  nation  is  solidified  long-  before  its  best 
experience  comes  ;  so  that,  in  the  dearth  of  fitting  words, 
consciousness  must  needs  find  other  and  subtler  means  of 
communication. 

Even  in  the  sphere  of  the  common  affections,  there  is  no 
language  of  the  heart.  What  two  people,  keenly  sympathetic, 
feel  in  communion,  is  revealed  in  no  other  way  than  by  a 
silence  which  each,  nevertheless,  fully  understands.  The  word 
of  intensest  meaning  would  strike  like  a  chill  of  avowed 
unworthiness  on  that  eloquent  stillness.  Acquaintances, 
meeting,  find  no  difficulty  in  expressing  their  formal  interest 
in  each  other's  welfare  ;  but  the  nearer  companionship,  that 
is,  the  parent  of  the  glory  and  despair  of  life,  goes  unspoken. 
in  spite  of  all  the  novels  and  poems  to  the  contrar)\     It  would 


5l6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

be  indeed  a  hopeless  task  for  him  who  would  attempt  to  con- 
vey in  words  the  deepest  that  he  knows  and  feels. 

There  can,  therefore,  be  no  school  of  the  real  theologies. 
What  men  have  known  of  God  is  not  in  the  boojcs,  but  in  the 
soul.  What  Jesus  knew  of  God  is  not  in  the  Gospel  state- 
ment, nor  did  he  ever  intend  that  it  should  be.  It  was  in 
him ;  and  we  see  it,  feel  it,  know  it,  wherever  and  whenever 
we  meet  him.  In  this  sense,  and  it  is  the  only  essential  one, 
Jesus  has  been  given  us  in  the  Gospels  with  utter  faithfulness. 
Though  the  writers  erred  occasionally  in  their  interpretation, 
they  never  failed  in  the  man.  His  message  and  meaning 
always  shine  out  clearly  through  the  partialness  of  their 
comprehension. 

The  true  science  of  God  is  in  the  processions  of  the  soul. 
Experience  knows,  while  our  intellectual  statements  only  hint 
at  him.  Spirituality  alone  reveals  and  commands  the  spiritual, 
and  for  this  reason  Jesus  came  a  man  of  few  words.  Sur- 
face and  show,  and  the  elaboration  thereof,  were  all  around 
him  ;  and  he  stood  uncompromisingly  for  a  realization  of  that 
about  which  others  only  talked,  and  for  an  attestation  of  it 
which  could  never  be  perverted  by  the  limits  of  a  definition. 

An  ideal  for  humanity  must  be  one  to  lead  all  human 
progress,  to  inspire  its  study  and  effort  forever  ;  so  high  that 
the  histories  of  the  centuries  will  be  that  of  an  ever-nearer 
approach  to  its  comprehension  and  realization.  This  is  why 
the  power  of  true  Christianity  is  perennial.  Nineteen  centu- 
ries, with  their  accumulated  culture  and  their  intenser  con- 
sciousness, have  only  brought  men  a  little  nearer  to  the  heart 
of  its  sul)lime  reality ;  and  the  widening  science  and  deeper 
personality  of  the  future  will  be  the  key  to  yet  clearer  under- 
standing of  those  apparently  mystical,  but  eminently  simple, 
statements  of  life  as  it  was  in  Jesus.  For  his  own  time  they 
were  sufficient  as  they  stood.  Wonder  and  childlike  awe  at 
any  form  of  actual  superiority,  however  imperfectly  under- 
stood, had  not  yet  exhausted  themselves.  What  the  world 
was  not  then  prepared  to  comprehend  was.  nevertheless,  able 


rO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  5  i  7 

to  be  a  vast  power  of  subjugation  over  the  lower  in  its  nature  ; 
while  the  advancing  life  of  all  time  would  find  in  its  higher 
and  completer  statement  a  perpetual  goal  of  promise  and 
attainment. 

Nothing  short  of  this  would  have  answered  the  require- 
ments of  a  mission  such  as  that  of  Jesus,  and  surely  nothing 
less  could  have  furnished  mankind  with  a  truth  which  is  ever 
an  incentive  rather  than  a  sedative.  It  is  not  the  truth  sim- 
ply and  abstractly  which  Jesus  has  in  view,  so  much  as  the 
truth  embodied  in  life.  The  race  is  to  work  toward  it,  to 
make  it  its  own,  to  identify  it  with  its  entire  growth.  It  is 
not  for  men  as  yet  to  say  that  they  comprehend  it:  they  may 
now  comprehend  only  its  drift  and  purpose;  its  reality  is 
beyond  every  thing  else.  It  is  not  for  us,  even  though  with 
tears  in  our  eyes,  to  complain  that  our  consolations  are  not 
yet  complete.  They  are  enough  when  rightly  understood ; 
and,  for  the  rest,  there  is  work  for  us  to  do.  We  are  not 
left  to  stagnate  in  our  finalities,  but  are  invited,  nay,  forced 
onward,  to  the  blessed  consummations  of  life. 

In  order  to  understand  the  peculiar  make-up  of  Jesus,  we 
must  keep  in  sight  the  character  of  his  object,  and  its  accom- 
panying influence  on  his  life.  This  was  of  no  ordinary  kind, 
and  held  with  no  common  devotion.  It  was  not  a  part,  how- 
ever inspiring,  of  the  kingdom  of  truth,  but  the  very  highest 
and  most  inclusive  of  all  of  its  realities.  It  was  God,  and  all 
possible  communion  with  him,  and  man  at  his  hitherto 
unknown  possibility,  including  the  entire  range  of  the  vast 
thing  so  often  named  but  so  seldom  understood  as  life,  that 
he  had  in  hand.  To  have  been  burdened  with  the  secret  of 
some  farthest  star  on  the  boundary  of  human  knowledge, 
would  doubtless  have  been  much  ;  but  to  have  come  from 
God  and  the  one  closest  insight  and  communion  ever  vouch- 
safed to  man,  and  from  the  outmost  limit  of  life's  unseen  pos- 
sibility, was  an  endowment  so  much  greater  than  the  highest 
common  to  men,  as  to  have  eliminated  the  element  of  egotism 
from  its  possession. 


5l8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Other  men  have  had  this  in  faint  approaches  to  the  clear 
reaHzation  which  came  to  the  mind  of  Jesus.  But,  unHke 
them,  he  never  doubted  nor  questioned  nor  speculated.  It 
was  consciousness  that  spoke  in  him,  and  made  possible  the 
clear,  calm  certainties  of  his  life,  the  almost  utter  absence  of 
the  things  that  cloud  and  embitter  our  experience.  He  talked 
of  God  as  if  he  had  but  just  left  him,  as  in  truth  he  really  had. 
It  never  occurred  to  him  to  prove  his  existence.  That  attempt 
was  left  for  an  aee  stranded  on  the  shallow  reaches  of  scien- 
tific  certainty.  He  introduced  no  mathematics  into  the 
demonstration  of  facts  that  are  so  consciously  real.  If  he  had 
stooped  to  the  poor  expedient  of  external  proof,  the  world 
might  well  have  doubted  his  claim  to  any  thing  but  the 
knowledge  of  the  empiricist. 


FREDERIC    GODET. 


[Lectures  in  Defence  of  the  Christian  Faith.     New  York:  1881.     Pp.  197,  230, 

234,  240.] 

The  progress  of  humanity  reaches  its  goal  in  Jesus,  who 
is,  in  relation  to  the  historic  development  of  humanity,  that 
which  the  advent  of  man  had  been  in  relation  to  the  develop- 
ment of  nature.  As  it  was  man  whom  God  had  in  view 
during  the  creation  and  progressive  development  of  nature  ; 
so  it  was  man,  as  we  behold  him  in  Jesus,  whom  he  had  in 
view  during  the  creation  and  progressive  development  of  man. 
The  object  up  to  which  he  was  working  was  man  made  holy 
by  freedom,  and  all-powerful  by  free  obedience. 

But  this  one  Man  is  unique,  he  is  but  one  ;  and  the 
existence  of  such  an  07ie  is  not  the  highest  aim  of  a  God  of 
love.  As  it  is  true  that  Jesus  is  the  perfect  man,  so  it  is  also 
true  that  the  purpose  of  God  is  not  attained  in  07ic  Jesus :  he 
desires  many  thousands  of  such.  He  desires  as  many  as  there 
are  men.  He  desires  a  Jesus-like  humanity.  —  the  reproduc- 
tion of  this  perfect  and  glorious  type  in  each  believer,  by  the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  519 

power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Such  is  the  high  ulterior  aim 
which  comes  into  view,  after  the  advent  upon  the  earth  of  that 
One  who  cannot  be  surpassed.  Each  member  of  the  Church, 
the  spiritual  body  of  Christ,  ought  to  become  like  him,  in 
order  that  at  last  the  day  may  arise  when  he  will  appear  but 
as  the  first-born  among  many  brethren. 

Would  it  be  true  to  say  that  by  establishing  the  perfect 
holiness  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  break  the  limit  which  binds  him 
to  our  humanity,  and  that  this  characteristic  which  stamps  him 
with  such  greatness  in  our  eyes  takes  away  another  character- 
istic even  more  precious  to  our  hearts,  —  that  by  that  very 
fact  he  becomes  no  longer  one  of  us,  our  Brother,  the  Son  of 
man  in  the  complete  sense  of  that  expression  ?  By  no  means; 
for  this  holiness,  perfect  as  it  is,  bears  none  the  less  unmistak- 
ably stamps  of  humanity,  such  as  distinguish  it  clearly  from 
the  holiness  of  God. 

The  holiness  of  God  is  unchangeable  ;  it  is  incapable  of 
growth.  Like  God  himself,  it  is.  That  of  Jesus,  on  the  other 
hand,  rose  step  by  step  till  it  reached  the  final  perfection.  Is 
it  not  said  of  him  when  a  child,  and  again  as  a  young  man, 
that  he  "  increased  in  wisdom,  and  in  favor  with  God  and 
man "  ?  This  apparent  growth  was  not  a  mere  illusion  :  it 
it  was  a  profound  moral  reality,  since  it  is  declared  that  this 
advance  took  place  not  only  in  the  sight  of  men,  but  in  that 
of  God  too. 

Does  the  thought  perhaps  occur  to  you.  that  this  idea  of 
progress  involves  that  of  sin  ?  No  :  it  is  possible  to  grow  in 
pure  good,  to  ascend,  like  the  angels,  without  ever  falling,  up 
the  luminous  ladder  which  ascends  to  the  divine  glory.  So  was 
it  that  Jesus  grew.  He  took  possession,  in  the  name  of  his 
Father,  of  the  several  domains  of  human  life  as  they  opened 
one  after  another  before  him  :  first,  of  that  of  the  family, 
which  was  the  first  to  present  itself  to  him,  and  which  he 
pressed  to  his  loving  heart,  watering  it  with  his  infantine 
prayers  and  intercessions  ;  then  at  the  age  of  adolescence, 
when  the  sentiments  of  patriotism  make  their  appearance  in  a 


520  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

young  and  noble  heart,  of  that  of  his  nation,  which  presented 
itself  to  him  in  its  entirety  as  his  family.  His  determination 
to  labor  at  realizing  the  great  promises  of  which  he  was  the 
depository,  henceforth  became  the  vocation  of  his  heart. 
Finally,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  at  the  time  of  his  baptism,  when 
he  had  reached  the  culminating  point  of  his  life,  he  saw 
opening  before  him  a  domain  vaster  still.  The  world  itself 
was  the  field  which  he  felt  it  his  vocation  to  cultivate  by  his 
words,  to  water  with  his  blood,  and  to  fructify  to  the  glory  of 
God  by  his  spirit. 

Thus  did  love  grow  in  him ;  thus  devotion  developed  itself 
in  the  heart  of  Jesus,  but  without  there  having  ever  existed  in 
him  any  germ  of  hatred  needing  to  be  extirpated,  any  egotis- 
tic inclination  needing  to  be  rooted  out.  To  open  his  heart, 
with  ever-growing  sympathy,  to  the  ever-new  creatures  of  God 
whom  his  Father  presented  to  his  love,  till  at  last  he  felt  the 
burthen  of  the  whole  human  race  laid  upon  his  heart,  con- 
scious of  having  become  its  living  centre,  —  such  was  the  form 
of  development  of  which  he  was  the  subject,  one  altogether 
positive,  and  of  which  the  goal  was  marked  b)'  his  title  of  the 
Son  of  man,  which  he  adopted  in  preference  to  all  others,  and 
which  he  drew  out  of  the  depths  of  the  tenderest  sympathy 
for  that  human  race  whom  he  had  made  his  family. 

This  is  an  instance  of  the  manner  in  which  all  the 
activities  of  our  nature,  all  the  physical  or  moral  forces  of  our 
being,  set  themselves  gradually  in  Jesus  to  the  service  of  that 
task  into  which  he  grew,  and  successively  received  by  means 
of  this  free  consecration  the  seal  of  holiness.  It  was  by  this 
his  ceaseless  and  free  working  upon  himself,  that  he  became, 
in  the  full  sense  of  that  expression,  the  Holy  One  of  God. 

The  holiness  of  Jesus  was  human,  not  only  because  it 
was  subject  to  the  law  of  progress,  but  also  because  it  had  to 
submit  to  the  still  far  heavier  law  of  temptation  and  of 
conflict. 

Conflict,  eftort,  have  no  place  in  God  :  "  God  cannot  be 
tempted  of   evil."     But   Jesus  had  a  conflict  to  go  through. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  52 1 

The  wilderness  and  Gethsemane  were  two  fields  of  battle 
which  the  Church  will  not  forget,  and  they  are  not  the  only 
ones. 

Men  ask  in  what  way  Jesus  could  have  been  tempted,  and 
go  through  a  conflict,  if  he  was  without  sin.  Do  we  not,  then, 
know  of  any  moral  conflicts  save  only  such  as  are  occasioned 
by  sin  ?  You  have,  let  us  suppose,  a  taste  for  study,  or  you 
delight  in  science.  But  being  the  elder  brother  in  your  family, 
and  having  lost  your  parents,  you  have  younger  brothers  and 
sisters  to  educate.  You  are  called  to  forsake  your  books, 
and,  by  labor  of  quite  another  kind,  to  earn  a  living  for  those 
whom  Providence  has  intrusted  to  your  care.  There  is  a 
conflict  to  which  you  are  called,  not  between  moral  good  and 
evil,  but  between  one  kind  of  good,  of  a  lower  order,  and 
another  of  a  higher  order,  that  of  duty.  You  delight  in  the 
fine  arts,  and  you  give  yourself  up  wholly  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  fine  talents  with  which  you  are  yourself  gifted.  But  )our 
native  land  is  in  dangfer  from  its  enemies,  and  demands  the 
help  of  the  strong  right  arms  of  her  children.  You  hear,  in 
the  distant  country  in  which  you  have  lost  yourself  in  the 
world  of  art,  your  native  land's  cry  of  distress.  You  have  to 
leave  the  scene  of  your  first  efforts,  and  rush  to  the  field  of 
battle.  Is  there  here  no  conflict,  —  not  between  moral  good 
and  evil,  but  between  two  kinds  of  good,  which  occupy 
different  ranks  in  the  moral  hierarchy  ? 

It  is  in  this  sense  that  Jesus,  though  without  sin,  might 
be  exposed  to  conflict,  accessible  to  temptation.  He  had  the 
most  generous  instincts,  the  most  distinguished  gifts  of  mind. 
As  a  philosopher,  he  would  have  surpassed  Socrates ;  as  an 
orator,  have  eclipsed  Demosthenes.  The  substance  and  the 
form  of  his  teaching  both  prove  it.  He  had  a  heart  capable 
of  enjoying,  more  deeply  than  any  one  else,  the  tender 
affections  of  family  life  ;  and  the  high  inspirations  of  patriot- 
ism would  have  found  in  him,  could  he  have  given  himselt 
up  to  them,  the  most  heroic  organ  for  their  exercise.  It  is 
enough   to   recall   his   last  words   to   his  mother,  and  to  the 


522  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

beloved  disciple,  and  his  tears  over  Jerusalem  on  the  day 
of  his  own  triumphal  entry.  He  had  to  suppress  all  these 
innocent  instincts  of  his  nature,  to  hold  in  check  these  noble 
impulses,  to  sacrifice  these  legitimate  indulgences  of  lawful 
inclination,  in  order  to  give  himself  altogether  to  the  task 
which  had  been  assigned  to  him  from  on  high,  to  his  work 
as  Redeemer,  offering  in  his  own  person,  to  his  Church,  a 
pattern  of  what  the  expressions  mean,  "To  cut  off  the 
right  hand,"  "  to  pluck  out  the  right  eye,"  "  to  give  his  life 
that  he  might  take  it  again  ;  "  and  just  as  truly  as  ourselves, 
he  felt  physical  sufferings,  and  the  sorrows  and  woundings 
of  the  heart.  For  love  of  his  work  as  Mediator  he  had  to 
submit  voluntarily  to  all  the  sufferings  from  which  our  human 
flesh  and  heart  most  legitimately  revolt.  But  this  submission 
was  made  each  time  at  the  cost  of  a  struggle.  We  see  that 
clearly  at  Gethsemane.  So  was  it  that  he  was  made  perfect 
and  learned  obedience  by  the  things  that  he  suffered.  Prog- 
ress, conflict,  —  are  not  these  the  marks  of  a  holiness  truly 
human  ?  In  the  wilderness  and  at  Gethsemane  it  was  per- 
fectly possible  to  be  in  the  fore-courts  of  heaven,  but  assuredly 
not  in  heaven  itself. 

You  know  that  art,  one  of  the  most  marvellous  discoveries 
of  our  day,  by  means  of  which  we  are  all  become  artists  of 
as  great  ability  as  the  most  consummate  portrait-painter,  —  our 
likeness  reproducing  itself  down  to  its  most  delicate  traits, 
on  a  plate  suitably  prepared  and  placed  for  the  purpose,  our 
lineaments  multiply  themselves  in  a  thousand  copies,  fac- 
similes  of  their  prototype.  It  even  succeeds  in  communicat- 
ing to  them  something  of  the  life  which  vivifies  themselves. 
Just  so,  by  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  Christ  repro- 
duces himself  in  the  hearts  and  lives  of  believers.  If  we 
place  ourselves  assiduously  before  him,  In  the  attitude  of 
absorbed  attention,  the  Holy  Spirit,  through  whom  he  offered 
himself  without  spot  to  God,  imprints  upon  us,  as  does  the 
light  of  the  sun,  the  characteristic  traits  of  the  model  we  ar<; 
contemplating:    he  himself  begins  to  live   in   our  soul.      Ho 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  523 

promised  it  in  the  words,  "The  Spirit  will  glorify  me  in  you;" 
and  St.  Paul  verifies  it  in  that  saying  which  sums  up  his 
most  sublime  experiences,  "  We,  with  open  face  beholding 
the  glory  of  the  Lord,  are  changed  into  the  same  image,  from 
glory  to  glory  [i.e.,  from  his  glory  to  ours],  even  as  by  the 
Spirit  of  the  Lord." 


WILLIAM    L.    CHAFFIN. 

[The   Intellectual  Greatness  of  Jesus.     Unitarian  Review,  February,  r88o. 
Vol.  xiii.  pp.  106,  III,  114,  118,  119.] 

It  has  long  been  a  growing  conviction  with  me,  that  Jesus 
was  a  master  mind  among  the  great  thinkers  of  our  race  ; 
that  what  Plato  was  in  philosophy,  Newton  in  science,  and 
Shakspeare  as  an  interpreter  of  human  nature,  that,  and 
more,  was  Jesus  in  the  realm  of  morals  and  religion.  It 
appears  to  me  plainly  evident  that  he  was  a  gifted  genius,  a 
profound  intellect,  a  most  masterly  thinker.   .   .   . 

Take  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  for  instance.  What  new 
light  and  glory  are  thrown  upon  the  lowly  attributes  of  human 
character !  In  what  contrast  do  they  stand  with  the  estimate 
of  the  world  !  Not  the  warrior,  but  the  peacemaker  ;  not  the 
mighty,  but  the  meek ;  not  the  proud  ecclesiastics,  but  the 
pure  in  heart ;  not  the  rich  or  great,  but  the  humble  and 
merciful,  —  are  pronounced  blessed.  The  doers  of  God's  will 
are  the  great  and  fortunate.  Sincerity  and  simplicity  are  the 
essence  of  true  worship.  Mercy  is  more  pleasing  to  God  than 
sacrifice.  Personal  goodness,  purity,  kindness,  service,  simple 
devoutness,  are  the  main  thing.  How  clearly  he  distinguishes 
between  the  spirit  and  the  letter,  substance  and  form,  essential 
and  unimportant!  "The  sabbath  is  made  for  man,  and  not 
man  for  the  sabbath,"  gives  a  comprehensive  principle  that 
covers  all  ceremonial,  custom,  and  institution.  "  He  that  will 
do  his  will  shall  know  of  the  doctrine,"  or  spiritual  conviction 
by  obedience,  is  another  principle  of  deepest  truth  and  signifi- 


524  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

cance.  What  condensation  of  devout  thought  in  that  litany 
of  the  ages,  the  Lord's  Prayer  !  What  a  consummate  generali- 
zation of  human  duty  in  the  two  great  commandments,  love 
to  God  and  man !  What  beauty  and  searching  force  in  the 
Golden  Rule  !  and  what  an  absence  of  all  allusion  to  any  thing 
ceremonial,  official,  institutional ;  to  rites  and  forms,  to  the 
sacrifices,  the  beliefs,  sacraments,  and  atonements,  by  others 
even  to  this  day  regarded  as  all-essential.   .   .   . 

How  can  we  avoid  the  conclusion  that  his  intellectual 
powers  were  of  the  highest  order,  to  enable  him  to  sift  the 
vast  amount  of  material  known  as  religious  belief  and  opinion, 
and  from  it  to  extract  the  pure  gold  of  truth  ?  It  can  only  be 
because  we  are  so  familiar  with  it,  if  we  are  unappreciative  of 
the  real  depth  and  comprehensiveness  of  his  work. 

Another  thing  deceives  us  as  to  the  greatness  of  his  work. 
Jesus  gives  us  results  only.  We  have  precise  conclusions, 
not  labored  processes  of  thought.  He  was  not  an  author. 
He  wrote  no  book,  gave  us  no  record  of  arguments  and 
elaborate  reasonings.  Had  he  done  so,  —  had  he  left  huge 
volumes  of  speculations  and  investigations  of  truth,  writing 
down  the  history  of  his  thought  in  theological  treatises  and 
religious  discourses,  doubtless  many  would  be  far  more  ready 
than  now  to  regard  him  as  a  great  thinker.  But,  in  fact,  no 
one  in  all  his  writings  has  left  us  such  a  substance  and  amount 
of  truth  as  Jesus  ;  and  the  real  greatness  of  a  philosopher  and 
thinker  ought  to  be  estimated  by  the  actual  contributions  he 
makes  to  truth,  and  to  new  and  living  statements  of  truth; 
just  as  the  genius  of  a  sculptor  is  shown,  not  by  the  amount 
of  material  or  time  he  has  used,  or  efforts  put  forth,  but  by 
the  completed  work  he  has  carved  in  wood  or  stone. 

Thus  Swedenborg  wrote  volume  after  volume  upon  reli- 
gious subjects  ;  but  we  could  spare  all  his  writings  better  than 
a  dozen  sentences  that  might  be  selected  from  the  sayings  of 
Jesus.  Greatness  of  mind  is  indicated,  not  by  the  dust  and 
commotion  made  in  the  discussion  of  truth,  but  by  the  quality 
and  amount  of  wisdom  added   to  the  work!,      in   the  crucible 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  525 

of  his  wonderful  mind,  Jesus  separated  the  gold  of  truth  from 
the  dross  of  error,  and  transformed  it  into  that  ready  coin  that 
so  marv^ellously  enriches  mankind.  What  would  the  world 
do,  if  forced  to  search  through  long  treatises  and  volumes  of 
speculation  for  the  truth  so  much  needed,  —  through  Plato  or 
Swedenborg  or  other  writers  that  are  only  for  the  scholar  ? 
Instead  of  gleaning  in  such  vast  fields  for  the  scattered  grains 
of  truth,  the  Gospel  has  garnered  it,  has  winnowed  it  from 
the  chaff,  and  brought  it  to  the  very  door  of  the  humblest 
soul.   .   .   . 

Another  evidence  of  the  superiority  of  the  mind  of  Christ 
is  the  remarkable  manner  in  which  he  saw  the  universal  in 
the  particular,  found  suggestions  of  the  grandest  truths  in  the 
simplest  facts  and  incidents,  looked  from  facts  to  principles, 
and  penetrated  to  the  all-embracing  laws  of  things.  Those 
of  us  who  have  been  in  the  society  of  great  minds  must  often 
have  noticed  and  admired  their  ability,  from  the  smallest  arc 
of  fact  and  incident,  to  construct  the  complete  circle  of  the 
law  or  principle  that  holds  this  fact  or  event  in  its  majestic 
sweep.  Time  need  not  be  taken  to  illustrate  what  is  so 
evident  upon  nearly  every  page  of  the  Gospels  ;  but  it  is  a 
subject  of  delightful  and  interesting  study,  from  which  few 
will  arise  without  renewed  admiration  and  reverence  for  the 
subtlety  and  comprehensiveness  of  the  mind  of  Christ. 

Every  thing  he  saw  instantly  became  a  living  symbol  of 
truth.  The  falling  sparrow,  the  lily  of  the  field,  the  wine-skins, 
the  flocks  of  sheep  upon  the  hillside,  the  fields  white  for  the 
harvest,  the  wheat  and  tares,  the  vineyard,  the  bread  and 
wine  upon  the  table,  —  these  became  suggestions  of  deep 
and  universal  truths.  i\nd  from  the  incidents  of  the  hour,  — 
the  man  asking  Jesus  to  divide  the  inheritance,  only  to  get  a 
lesson  on  covetousness  ;  his  kindred  interrupting  him.  only 
to  hear  that  his  mother  and  sister  and  brothers  are  those 
who  do  God's  will ;  his  conversations  with  his  opponents,  in 
which  he  pfoes  down  beneath  all  traditional  doctrine  and 
custom  to  the  essential  principles  of  life  and  conduct,  —  from 


526  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

all  these  we  may  find  abundant  illustrations  of  his  power  to 
see  the  universal  in  the  particular.  The  clear-cut  precision 
of  his  thought,  its  condensation,  the  point  and  pertinency  of 
his  illustration,  his  freedom  from  extraneous  allusion,  giving 
us  the  thing  itself,  and  not  mere  talk  about  it ;  his  practical 
wisdom,  his  power  of  arresting  attention  and  stamping  the 
truth  upon  the  memory,  are  proofs  of  his  intellectual  mastery 
of  the  great  subjects  with  which  he  has  to  deal.   .  .   . 

Who  is  the  superior,  or  even  rival,  of  Jesus  ?  Who  will 
correct,  improve,  or  disprove  his  Gospel  ?  Where  is  the 
successor  of  Christianity  ?  This  is  the  marvel,  —  that  eighteen 
centuries  of  thought  and  investigation  have  passed  without 
discrowning  this  king  of  truth,  or  disproving  his  pre-eminence 
as  the  spiritual  leader  of  mankind. 

The  prophet  of  Nazareth  is  not  outgrown  nor  left  behind 
in  the  progress  of  the  ages ;  and  this  proves  his  pre-eminence 
over  all  others.  Indeed,  he  is  far  in  advance,  leading  us  yet ; 
and  we  have  no  more  mastered  the  full  significance  of  his 
teachings  than  we  have  matched  and  surpassed  the  greatness 
and  beauty  of  his  character  and  life. 


EMILE    BOUGAUD. 

[An  Argument  for  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ.    London  :  1882.    Pp.  22-29,  3^1  34-] 

According  as  criticism  becomes  more  searching,  observa- 
tion more  thoughtful  and  more  exact,  features  are  discovered 
in  the  character  of  Christ  which  the  ancient  apologists  did 
not  suspect.  Christ  stands  forth  under  the  gaze  of  criticism 
like  the  firmament  when  examined  with  a  powerful  instrument 
of  modern  science. 

Beyond  the  definite  qualities  of  which  we  have  spoken, 
and  which,  carried  to  their  highest  perfection  and  harmoni- 
ously blended  together,  stamp  such  a  royal  human  beauty 
on  the  physiognomy  of  Jesus  Christ,  we  begin  to  discover  in 
him  what  is  less  easy  to  lay  hold  of,  what  is  without  limit  and 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  527 

« 
bounds.  You  feel  that  he  is  man,  but  always  that  he  is  more 
than  man.  There  is  something  of  the  universal  and  the 
inexhaustible,  which  warns  you  that  the  ordinary  limits  of 
human  nature  have  been  passed.  Consider,  one  by  one,  his 
moral  perfection,  his  personality,  his  mind  ;  you  may  discover 
the  form,  you  will  never  fathom  the  depth. 

The  depth  of  his  moral  perfection  !  You  will  find  it  when 
you  can  find  any  thing-  that  can  be  compared  to  it.  But 
where  will  you  find  this  ?  I  will  not  speak  of  antiquity  ;  such 
an  ideal  was  not  even  imagined.  "  Jesus,  by  his  greatness 
and  goodness,"  says  Channing,  "  throws  all  other  human 
attainments  into  obscurity." 

And  not  only  the  human  perfections  of  those  who  pre- 
ceded, but  also  of  those  who  followed  him,  —  such  perfections 
even  which  owed  their  origin  to  him ;  for  his  appearance  was 
like  a  flash  of  lightning,  which  revealed  an  ideal  unknown  till 
then,  and  which  created  an  all-absorbing  desire  to  imitate  him. 

For  eighteen  centuries  has  this  ideal  been  before  the 
world  ;  for  eighteen  centuries  millions  of  men  have  tried  to 
reproduce  it,  and  proportioned  to  the  closeness  of  the  copy  is 
the  beauty  to  which  they  attain  ;  but  to  none  has  it  been 
given  to  equal  it.  In  these  numberless  imitations,  there  are 
many  that  challenge  admiration,  —  some  by  their  purity,  some 
by  their  strength.  But  not  one  can  compare,  even  at  a  dis- 
tance, with  the  beauty  of  Jesus ;  for  the  unique  beauty  of 
Jesus  surpasses  not  only  all  created  beauty,  it  is  without  limit. 
No  ideal  prepared  the  way  for  it.  .   .  . 

All  our  efforts  to  find  an  ideal  Christ  —  that  is  to  say,  a 
beauty  distinct  from  the  beauty  which  he  realized,  and 
superior  to  it  —  are  vain.  In  contemplating  Jesus  Christ,  it 
is  not  our  ideal  which  we  see  arising,  escaping  from  us  :  it  is 
he,  as  portrayed  in  the  Gospels,  who  rises,  and  escapes  from 
us,  whom  we  cannot  reach,  either  by  the  pencil  or  the  chisel, 
either  by  the  pen  or  by  the  heart.  It  was  this  incapacity  for 
reproducing  such  beauty,  which  drew  tears  from  the  blessed 
Angelico  of  Fiesole ;  it  was  this  which  caused  the  brush  to 


528  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

9 

fall  from  the  hand  of  Leonardo  ;  it  was  this  which  caused 
a  Bossuet  and  a  Pascal  to  despair.  For  the  first,  perhaps  for 
the  only  time  in  the  history  of  art,  its  highest  perfection  falls 
short  of  the  truth,  and  the  imagination  even  of  genius  to 
idealize  the  reality. 

This  reflection  alone  ought  to  be  sufficient  to  make  every 
serious  mind  recognize  that  the  character  of  Jesus  Christ, 
although  truly  human  and  natural,  has  a  superhuman  eleva- 
tion ;  but  I  would  have  you  consider  something  more  won- 
derful, a  further  perfection  much  more  inexplicable.  We 
have  found  no  limit  to  his  moral  beauty,  to  his  perfection. 
Let  us  now  seek  the  limit  to  his  personality. 

Personality  is  limited  by  time,  place,  and  race.  However 
great  a  man  may  be,  he  was  born  here,  he  lived  there,  sprang 
from  a  certain  race,  he  carries  the  stamp  of  that  race.  Look 
at  the  greatest  men  :  they  belong  to  their  time.  They  eagerly 
espouse  its  interests,  passions,  joys,  and  griefs.  We  observe 
this  in  politicians,  in  lawgivers,  in  conquerors.  On  what 
would  they  depend  to  govern  the  world,  and  to  raise  it,  if  they 
did  not  belong  to  their  time  ?  But  do  not  mere  abstract 
thinkers,  solitary  speculators,  poets,  philosophers,  artists, 
those  whose  life  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  the  ideal  goes 
deeper  into  human  nature,  and  passes  less  quietly,  —  do  they 
not  also  belong  to  their  time  ?  Through  the  music  of  their 
poems,  do  we  not  hear  mingled  with  the  voice  of  human 
nature  the  voice  of  their  age  ?  mingled  with  the  sighs  of 
the  human  soul,  do  we  not  hear  the  sighs  of  the  people 
of  the  century,  of  the  city,  where  that  human  soul  prayed,  wept, 
suffered,  and  loved  ?  Call  over  the  roll  of  great  men,  — 
Homer,  Job,  .^schylus,  Isaiah,  Socrates,  Phidias,  Sophocles, 
Plato,  Virgil,  Tacitus,  Dante,  Michael  Angelo,  Shakspeare, 
Milton,  Corneille,  Racine,  Bossuet.  What  are  they?  The 
incarnations  of  Greece,  of  Arabia,  of  Judaea,  of  pagan  Rome, 
of  Christian  Italy,  of  Spain,  of  France,  of  England.  And 
the  greater  they  are,  the  more  perfectly  they  embody  in 
themselves  with  the  genius   of  the  human   race,  the  genius 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  529 

of  that  part  of  the  human  race  of  which  they  are  more 
directly  the  offspring.  Homer  is  the  great  Pelasgian, 
i^schylus  is  the  great  Greek,  Job  is  the  great  Arab,  Isaiah 
is  the  great  Hebrew.  Tacitus  is  the  great  Roman,  Dante 
is  the  great  Itahan,  Shakspeare  is  the  great  EngHshman, 
Bossuet  is  the  great  Frenchman.  And  what  is  Jesus  Christ  ? 
Neither  Hebrew  nor  Greek  ;  neither  ancient  nor  modern. 
He  is  a  man  :  or,  rather,  he  is  the  man.  In  the  others,  you 
do  not  find  human  nature  in  its  fulness  :  you  meet  with  a 
limit.     In  Jesus  Christ  you  meet  no  limit. 

And  remark,  that  this  universality  does  not  imply  the 
absence  of  individuality.  For  what  individuality  was  ever  so 
manifest,  so  sharply  defined  ?  Who  ever  spoke  of  himself  in 
such  a  tone  of  authority  ?  Where  is  there  a  more  complete 
independence  to  be  found  ?  On  whom  is  he  dependent  ? 
Not  on  the  multitude  who  cheer  him,  not  on  his  disciples,  not 
on  his  century,  not  on  the  ideas  and  customs  in  the  midst  of 
which  he  lives.  None  can  claim  to  have  been  his  master. 
It  is  by  the  sublimity  of  his  individuality,  that  he  attains  to 
that  singular  universality.  Moses  is  a  Jew  in  his  thoughts, 
his  feelings,  his  manners,  and  his  habits,  even  more  than 
in  his  origin.  Socrates  never  raised  himself  above  the  Greek 
type.  Mohammed  was  an  Arab.  La  Fontaine  and  Moliere 
are  French  to  such  a  degree,  that  the  English  have  as  much 
trouble  in  understanding  them  as  the  French  have  in  appre- 
ciating Goethe.  All  these  great  men  have  something  in  them 
that  is  local  and  transient,  —  which  cannot  be  understood 
beyond  the  mountain  or  the  ocean,  which  cannot  be  every- 
where imitated  ;  something  which  dies  with  the  age,  which 
springs  up  again  sometimes  in  another  age,  but  again  to  pass 
away  by  a  strange  vicissitude,  which  shows  that  the)-  are  but 
men,  although  the  greatest  among  men. 

In  Jesus  Christ  there  is  nothing  of  this  sort.  His  physiog- 
nomy shares  no  such  limit.  Human  nature  is  there,  but 
nothing  to  circumscribe  it.  He  is  the  universal  model  pro- 
posed for  universal  imitation.     All  copy  him,  —  the  child,  the 


530  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

maiden,  the  mother,  the  old  man,  —  all,  whatever  their  condi- 
tion, whatever  their  age,  come  to  him  to  find  consolation  and 
strength  :  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich,  the  prisoner  in  his 
dungeon,  and  the  king  upon  his  throne.  To  no  purpose  are 
fresh  actors  brought  upon  the  scene,  by  the  progress  of  the 
world  and  of  civilization.  Jesus  Christ  is  a  stranger  to  none, 
—  not  to  the  Greek,  although  he  cared  little  for  philosophy  ; 
not  to  the  Roman,  though  he  may  never  have  gained  a 
battle  ;  not  to  the  barbarian  of  the  fourth  century,  nor  to  the 
polished  citizen  of  the  nineteenth  century,  although  their  ideas, 
their  habits  and  manners,  are  so  wholly  dissimilar.  He  has 
been  adored  by  the  redskins  of  America,  by  the  negroes  ot 
Africa,  by  the  Brahmans  of  India  ;  and  this  adoration  created 
in  them  virtues  as  pure,  and  the  same,  as  those  which  sprang 
up  in  the  degenerate  Romans  of  the  Lower  Empire. 

His  character  so  embraces  all,  touches  the  sympathies  of 
all,  appears  to  be  within  the  reach  of  all,  is  imitated  by  all,  in 
all  times,  though  never  equalled. 

His  influence  has  no  limits,  either  in  time  or  in  space.  It 
has  no  bounds  an^^vhere,  in  any  direction.  Above  all,  no 
age  has  escaped  from  it.  The  human  race  progresses,  it 
presses  forward  rapidly  like  a  messenger  running  in  hot  haste. 
It  blesses  and  hails  in  its  path  the  geniuses  which  are  to  carry 
the  torch  before  it.  Then  very  soon  it  leaves  these  geniuses 
behind.  The  philosophy  of  Plato  was  once  good,  but  it  no 
longer  serves  our  purpose.  The  science  of  Newton  was 
wonderful,  but  it  has  been  outstripped.  The  human  race 
advances,  kindles  fresh  torches.  Hippocrates,  Archimedes, 
Galileo,  Lavoisier,  —  all  have  been  left  behind ;  but  not  Jesus 
Christ.  .   .   . 

It  even  seems,  that,  the  more  the  human  race  progresses, 
the  more  striking  becomes  the  influence  of  Jesus  Christ.  On 
each  new  horizon,  it  throws  a  sudden  ray  of  light ;  to  each 
new  want  it  provides  a  remedy  till  then  unknown.  What 
marvels  are  there  not,  which  the  Christians  of  the  first  century 
never  suspected,  yet  of  which  we  are  compelled  to  say,  they 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  53  i 

were  present  to  his  mind  ;  and  what  marvels  that  we  do  not 
perceive,  of  which  our  descendants  will  say,  he  foresaw  these 
also.  And  at  the  same  time  that  it  extends  through  centuries, 
and  is  renewed  with  every  advance  of  civilization,  this  influence 
of  Jesus  Christ  loses  nothing  of  its  intensity.  After  the  lapse 
of  eighteen  centuries,  it  masters  souls  as  it  did  on  the  first  day. 


THOMAS    WELBANK    FOWLE. 

(CELLARIUS.     PSEUDONYM.) 

[A  New  Analogy  between  Revealed  Religion  and  the  Course  and  Constitu- 
tion OF  Nature.     London:  1881.     Pp.  157,  158,  162-180.] 

The  history  of  Jesus  Christ  can  be  presented  in  the  three- 
fold aspect  of  life,  character,  and  teaching,  in  each  of  which 
respects  the  question  of  "naturalness"  can  be  submitted  to 
the  decision  of  reason.  But,  to  a  considerable  extent,  the 
question  in  each  case  is  decided  by  the  New-Testament  record 
and  by  the  common  confession  of  mankind,  as  soon  as  it  is 
asked.   ... 

The  history,  by  merely  passing  touches,  takes  care  to  let 
us  know  that  he  discharged  excellently  all  the  common  rela- 
tionships of  life,  such  as  son,  brother,  master,  servant,  host, 
guest,  friend,  citizen,  patriot,  and  king,  thereby  showing  how 
a  religious  life  might  be  lived  on  earth  and  by  man.  He  loved 
flowers  and  children,  because,  in  addition  to  their  natural 
charms,  they  taught  him  something  about  God.  The  ver\" 
weakness  of  human  nature,  he  so  endured  as  to  consecrate  it 
to  God,  and  to  a  divine  purpose  ;  and  the  tears  of  Christ  are 
stored  in  the  treasure-house  of  human  memory.  That  he  was  in 
all  things  like  unto  us,  —  sin  only  excepted,  —  was  one  of  the 
most  certain  impressions  made  upon  the  minds  of  those  who 
had  the  best  means  of  knowing  him  ;  and  it  is  because  they 
have  so  depicted  him,  that  he  has  gained  so  complete  a  hold 
upon  the  heart  of  mankind.  And  all  this  was  done  by  men. 
who,  believing  in  his  supernatural  origin  and  destiny,  had  the 


532  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Strongest  inducement  to  pass  over  the  merely  human  aspect 
of  his  life.  And  we  may  surely  assert,  that  if  the  account  of 
him  were  merely  a  tradition  of  a  noble  life,  by  devoted  follow- 
ers, this  belief  of  theirs  would  have  added  some  touch  of 
naturalness,  or  betrayed  some  lack  of  sympathy  with  custom- 
ary order,  that  would  have  marred  the  completeness  of  our 
Exemplar,  and  so  hurt  our  faith. 

That  our  Lord's  conformity  to  nature  was  not  merely  acci- 
dental, but  formed  part  of  his  own  self-conscious  intention, 
proof  of  a  very  remarkable  and  convincing  character  can  be 
alleged.  As  a  mere  matter  of  historical  criticism,  no  portion 
of  his  life  presents  so  much  difficulty  as  the  account  of  his 
temptation,  which  must,  to  be  true  in  any  sense  at  all.  repre- 
sent his  own  views  and  thoughts  about  that  mysterious  event. 
And  yet,  if  we  look  at  it,  it  is  clear  that  the  victory  consisted 
in  the  determination  of  a  Being,  conscious  of  supernatural 
powers,  not  therefore  to  depart  from  the  order  of  nature,  but 
to  do  his  work  in  life  as  other  men  do  theirs.  The  induce- 
ment to  error  in  this  way  constitutes  the  entire  force  of  at 
least  two  out  of  three  temptations  ;  namely,  to  support  the 
wants  of  nature  then  and  thereafter  by  miraculous  power,  and 
to  gain  the  adherence  of  the  people  by  miraculous  defiance  of 
nature's  laws.  It  seems,  we  must  venture  to  say,  almost  im- 
possible to  overestimate  the  conclusiveness  of  such  an  analogy 
as  this,  all  the  circumstances  being  taken  into  account. 

Nature's  first  and  simplest  demand  would  seem  to  be  that 
the  perfect  man  should  possess  the  various  qualities  which  are 
called  virtuous  or  good.  But  as  these  arc  made  up  of  con- 
trasts, i.e.,  those  that  are  associated  with  what  we  call  strength 
or  weakness,  respectively,  there  is  an  inherent  difficulty  in 
combining  them  in  one  character,  —  over  which  polytheism 
stumbled,  and  ended  by  assigning  various  characteristic  quali- 
ties to  different  divinities,  in  despair,  it  would  seem,  ot  con- 
centrating them  in  one  ;  and  thus  it  failed  in  the  task  which 
nature  sets  the  reason  to  do. 

This  task,  however,  has  been  accomplished  in  the  revela- 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  533 

tion  of  Christ.  For  it  is  this  very  combination  of  two  sets  of 
qualities,  that  gives  him  the  first  moral  claim  upon  (nir  alle- 
giance. On  the  one  hand  we  have  tenderness,  meekness, 
humility,  sympathy,  patience,  and  many  more  similar  qualities  ; 
on  the  other  hand  we  have  heroism,  physical  and  moral  cour- 
age, indignation,  the  love  of  liberty,  the  spirit  of  command. 
For  the  most  striking  illustration  of  this,  let  us  take  his  public 
entrance  into  Jerusalem,  which  we  boldly  call  the  most  heroic 
act  in  history,  and  which,  nevertheless,  was  specifically  associ- 
ated with  meekness  and  sorrowful  weeping. 

So,  again,  we  have  united  the  royal  dignity  of  a  king,  and 
the  absolute  humility  of  the  Saviour ;  the  strenuous  will, 
and  the  submissive  resignation  ;  the  lofty  resolution,  and  the 
patient  endurance.  But  not  to  go  further  into  detail,  we 
assert,  perhaps  without  the  chance  of  being  contradicted,  that 
the  account  of  Christ's  moral  qualities  has  been  so  arranged 
as  to  leave  that  impression  of  symmetrical  completeness  which 
nature  asks  for. 

Nature's  second  demand  of  the  perfect  man  may  be 
described  as  that  abstract  quality  called  holiness  or  righteous- 
ness, which  is  always  predicated  of  God  wherever  the  mind 
of  man  has  apprehended  the  unity  of  the  Divine  Being.  .  .  . 
That  this  ideal  is  fulfilled  in  the  account  of  Jesus  Christ,  can 
hardly,  we  think,  be  denied,  especially  in  view  of  the  plain 
fact  that  criticism  has  hitherto  failed  to  make  an  impression 
upon  it.  The  word  "character,"  which  has  come  to  be  applied 
to  his  moral  being,  conveys  an  erroneous  notion  about  him. 
For  character,  as  the  word  implies,  is  a  very  marked  and 
definite  thing  ;  it  is  the  stamp  impressed  upon  a  particular 
man's  moral  constitution,  so  engraved  and  fashioned,  raised 
here,  depressed  there,  light  in  one  place,  dark  in  another,  as 
to  afford  a  distinct  notion  what  manner  of  man  he  is.  But 
this  is  quite  unlike  the  account  we  have  of  Christ,  of  whom 
we  surely  cannot  say  that  he  is  better  in  one  respect  than  in 
another ;  or  that  he  diverged  from  the  standard  of  goodness 
which    Nature    has   taught   us   to   set  up  or  to  acknowledge 


534  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

when  set  up  by  him  ;  or  that  he  was  of  any  particular  type 
or  cast  of  character  at  all.  However  we  may  explain  the 
fact,  it  remains  true  that  the  history  is  so  devised  as  to  place 
him  above  the  power  of  moral  analysis,  in  the  same  sort  of 
way  as  nature  is  planned  to  reveal  the  incomparable  and 
indefinable  holiness  of  the  Creator. 

Nature's  third  demand,  which  concerns  rather  the  working 
of  the  perfect  character  in  actual  practice,  is  that  it  should 
display  a  constant  sympathy  with  good,  and  antipathy  towards 
evil :  a  truth  which  the  religious  instinct  has  expressed  in  the 
doctrine  common  to  all  mankind,  that  the  gods  punish  wick- 
edness, and  reward  virtue.  Now,  it  is  one  of  the  happy 
results  of  recent  discoveries,  that  the  justification  of  this 
demand,  together  with  the  meaning  of  this  sympathy  and 
antipathy,  are  found  embedded,  as  it  were,  in  the  moral  strata 
of  nature  itself.  For  the  modern  doctrine  is,  that  by  the 
course  of  nature  is  meant  an  increasing  tendency  on  the  part 
of  man,  to  improve  himself  and  his  surroundings  according 
to  the  law  of  development  which  nature  lays  down  for  reason 
and  experience  to  find  out  and  profit  by.  Whence  it  follows 
that  all  men  who  would  be  accounted  good  must  love  that 
which  makes  for  the  carrying-out  of  nature's  plan,  and  hate 
that  which  makes  against  it. 

Now,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say,  that  the  moral  history  of 
Christ,  in  its  practical  aspect,  may  be  summed  up  under  one 
or  other  of  these  two  conceptions,  and  that  he  realized  abso- 
lutely nature's  ideal. 

The  last  demand  that  nature  makes  is,  that  the  perfect 
man  should  have  that  complete  sympathy  with  herself,  with 
the  course  and  order  of  things,  which  may  be  termed  happi- 
ness in  living,  or  the  mere  joy  of  existence.   .   .   . 

The  deeper  research  of  modern  days  has  come  in,  to 
sanction  this  association  of  the  sense  of  joy  with  the  course 
of  nature,  and  to  justify  the  demand  for  it  from  any  charac- 
ter claiming  to  be  perfect.  .  .  .  The  capacity  for  joy  lies  at 
the  moral  heart  of  nature  ;  let  it  be  taken  away,  and  there 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  535 

•would  be  no  reason  why  sentient  being  should  care  to  prolong 
life  or  to  continue  the  conflict.  So  that  nature  cannot  choose 
but  demand  of  all  who  would  represent  her  moral  character- 
istics to  perfection,  that  they  should  discern  and  appropriate 
this  joy  of  progress  as  being  the  necessary  condition  of  all 
moral  continuance. 

Now,  as  we  well  know,  this  is  not  the  first  nor  the  most 
cha.racteristic  view  of  things  which  the  Christian  revelation 
presents  to  our  notice  :  rather  it  protests  against  the  mere  sat- 
isfaction with  things  as  they  are,  and  against  the  mere  enjoy- 
ment of  the  best  of  all  possible  worlds,  as  sure  to  end  in 
terrible  moral  confusions.  And  so  Christianity  makes  its  first 
appeal  to  the  heart  of  man,  by  depicting  the  Man  of  sorrows 
as  expressing  the  Divine  sympathy  with  the  sorrowfulness  of 
life  ;  and  this,  in  obedience  to  the  cry  of  humanity,  which 
suffers  so  much  at  the  hands  of  nature,  whose  very  joy  is  a 
survival  out  of  much  unhappiness. 

And  this  first  impression,  with  its  inexhaustible  cup  of 
consolation  for  the  sinner  and  the  sufferer,  endured  for  many 
ages  of  moral  disorder  and  deep  misery,  until,  in  accordance 
with  a  law  from  which  not  even  the  greatest  truths,  if  they 
are  one-sided,  are  exempt,  it  was  seen  to  be  in  imperfect 
harmony  with  nature,  and  so  gave  rise  to  re-actions  which  had 
their  roots  and  justification  in  the  purely  natural  gladness  of 
living.  Thus  in  the  semi-pagan  revival  before  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  in  the  movement  of  the  eighteenth  century,  of 
which  nature  was  the  pass-word,  the  principal  actors  were 
thrilled  with  the  joy  of  life,  action,  knowledge,  and  humanit}-. 
To  them,  nature  was  all-sufficing ;  and  they  insisted,  often 
with  forced  laughter  echoing  over  a  troubled  scene  from  sad 
hearts,  that  men  had  only  to  follow  the  leadings  of  nature, 
and  be  happy.  And  so,  resenting  the  sorrowful  view  of  life, 
they  fought  Christianity  to  the  very  death,  in  the  ver)-  spirit 
of  an  overwrought,  and  therefore  not  permanent,  re-action. 

This  re-action  has  now  in  great  measure  abated,  in  pro- 
portion as  earnest  minds  have  come  to  see  how  true  the  story 


536  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

of  the  Man  of  sorrows  is  to  experience,  and  how  essential 
to  any  adequate  moral  rendering  of  the  world  in  which  we 
live.  Now,  therefore,  if  ever,  is  the  opportunity  for  Christi- 
anity to  do  its  part  in  the  work  of  reconciliation,  by  complet- 
ing its  own  representation  of  the  moral  being  of  its  Master. 
And  this  it  can  do  by  claiming  more  distinctly  than  hitherto, 
upon  the  plain  testimony  afforded  by  Christ's  words  and  life, 
that  joy  of  existence  which  nature  demands,  and  he  so  plainly 
possessed.  For,  be  it  observed  that  he  himself  never  speaks  of 
his  sorrowfulness  (as  an  abiding  quality),  more  than  once 
of  his  joy  ;  nor  does  his  life  present  merely  the  aspect  of 
unceasing  sorrow,  but  also  a  cheerful,  hopeful,  laborious 
energy,  lived  indeed  towards  the  latter  part  in  the  deepening 
gloom  of  the  shadow  of  the  cross,  which  again  was  relieved 
by  the  radiance  of  the  resurrection.  It  affords,  perhaps,  a 
hint  how  much  more  is  yet  to  be  got  out  of  the  Christian 
religion,  that  it  might  be  difficult  to  quote  one  discourse  of 
any  celebrated  preacher  in  which  the  joy  of  Christ  is  expressly 
and  exhaustively  treated.   .   .   . 

But  what  forever  determines  this  question  for  Christians 
is  his  own  testimony  to  his  spiritual  joy.  As  though  to  leave 
this  last  impression  upon  the  heart  of  man,  he  goes  to 
betrayal,  agony,  and  death,  with  the  words  "  my  joy  "  repeated 
emphatically  in  his  last  discourse  and  closing  prayer  to  God. 
And  all  analogy,  now  that  men  have  begun  to  understand 
the  course  of  things,  justifies  the  assertion  that  he  bore  and 
conquered  death  because  of  the  supreme  joy  of  existence  to 
which  he  testified.  If  he  was  human  in  the  perfection  of  his 
sorrow,  he  was  divine,  as  nature  accounts  of  divineness,  in 
the  perfection  of  his  joy  ;  so  that  we  do  him  wrong  if  in  his 
name,  or  to  carry  on  his  work,  we  throw  ourselves  out  of 
sympathy  with  the  natural  gladness  of  things  :  although  this 
fault  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  that  stern  and  necessary 
protest  against  selfishness,  self-satisfaction,  and  deadness  to 
sin  and  suffering,  which  the  contemplation  of  the  joyful  side 
of  nature,  taken  by  itself,  is  apt  to  promote.     The  tendency  of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  537 

the  life  of  Christ,  as  of  nature,  is  always  towards  unity,  whole- 
ness, combination  of  opposites,  adjustment  of  contradictions. 

But  without  entering  further  on  the  joy  of  Christ,  which 
we  suspect  to  be  full  of  hidden  beauties  and  deep  analogies, 
to  be  revealed  hereafter,  we  say  simply,  that,  contrary  to  what 
might  have  been  expected  beforehand,  it  betrays  a  complete 
resemblance  to  that  which  nature  suggests  as  being  the  most 
suitable  spirit  for  her  children  to  be  possessed  by. 

The  naturalness  of  Christ's  teaching  to  which  we  now  turn 
might  almost  be  taken  as  conceded  by  fair  opponents  ;  at  any 
rate,  the  answer  which  Revelation  makes  to  the  demand  of 
nature  becomes  more  decisive  as  the  demand  assumes  a  more 
peremptory  tone.  .  .  .  Now,  this  being  so,  we  are  to  remem- 
ber that  not  by  one  single  word  did  Christ  give  any  opinion 
about  natural  phenomena,  or  assign  for  them  supernatural 
causes.  He  did  not  interfere  in  his  teaching  with  any  knowl- 
edge that  men  have,  or  may  acquire,  of  the  universe,  of  its 
laws  and  processes  ;  nor  is  there  any  thing  that  men  say  or 
think  at  the  present  moment  in  the  investigation  of  nature, 
which  requires  to  be  altered  because  of  any  thing  that  Christ 
said  or  taught.  In  every  thing,  he  paid  scrupulous  deference 
to  the  prerogatives  of  reason,  and  never  committed  himself  to 
any  opinion  that  reason  can  even  criticise,  still  less  pronounce 
inaccurate.  This  is,  of  course,  as  it  must  needs  be,  one  of 
those  general  statements  that  are  asserted  as  true,  subject  to 
disproof  from  facts,  which  in  this  case  can  be  safely  challenged  ; 
but  there  is  also  one  piece  of  positive  proof  as  well. 

All  religious  systems  must  contain  a  cosmogony  of  some 
sort,  and  it  is  here  that  they  come  into  conflict  with  science  ; 
even  the  primitive  and  artless  cosmogony  of  the  Hebrews 
having  been  subjected  to  the  common  lot  of  being  strenuously 
disputed  over.  But  the  Christian  cosmogony  as  contained  in 
the  first  thirteen  verses  of  St.  John's  Gospel  (for  so  it  certainly 
is),  presents  nothing  which  can  conflict  with  any  positive 
demonstration  of  reason  from  the  apprehension  of  phenomena. 
It  is  a  purely  spiritual  or  religious  account   of  creation,   so 


538  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

constructed  as  to  fall  in  with  any  material  or  scientific  account 
that  the  human  mind  may  attain  unto.   .   .  . 

Surely  no  one  ever  made  so  natural  a  use  of  natural 
scenes  as  Christ  did.  He  grasped  clearly  the  secrets  of  God's 
working-  in  nature,  and  thus  was  able  to  use  it  to  explain  and 
illustrate  the  same  working  in  the  spiritual  order,  bringing  out 
at  every  step  in  his  teaching  analogies  the  most  beautiful 
and  subtile.  Thus,  to  take  the  first  few  examples  that  present 
themselves  :  he  spoke  of  himself  under  such  illustrations  as 
light,  food,  drink,  a  vine,  a  shepherd,  a  bridegroom,  and  the 
like.  His  parables  ranged  over  the  common  scenes  or  duties 
of  daily  life.  He  said  one  of  the  finest  and  deepest  things 
ever  said  concerning  flowers,  in  order  to  contrast  the  beauti- 
fulness  of  God's  creation  with  man's  artificial  splendor. 

The  sight  of  children  suggested  to  him  a  living  picture  of 
the  heavenly  disposition.  The  sun  and  stars  above,  moun- 
tains and  hills  below,  were  also  pressed  into  the  same  service. 
And  so  he  drew  religion  from  nature  as  other  men  draw  poetr)-, 
art,  law,  or  morals,  which  he  for  his  part  left  to  each  man  to 
do  in  his  own  sphere  as  God  had  appointed,  never  interfering 
with  the  march  of  the  human  intelligence  in  pursuit  of  its  own 
proper  aims,  but  submitting  himself,  as  became  a  dutiful  Son, 
to  the  conditions  and  limitations  which  his  Father  has 
imposed  upon  his  created  work. 


JOHN    WILLIAMS. 

[The  World's  Witness  to  Jesus  Christ.     New  York:  1882.     Pp.  38-43,  49,  50.] 

There  were  religions  and  philosophies  in  the  world  when 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born  in  Judcxa.  What  one  of  these, 
if  any,  has  taken  up  those  various  elements  that  we  behold, 
and  used  them  all  for  the  advancement  of  the  race  ?  What 
one  of  these  has  proved  itself  possessed  of  the  capability  of 
universal  adaptation,  of  a  permanence  which  is  living  and 
not  fossilized,  and  of  the  power  of  continuous  and  limitless 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  539 

expansion  ?  These  three  marks  or  signs  I  hold  to  be  not 
only  noteworthy,  but  crucial.  A  system  in  which  they  are 
not  found  —  whether  it  contains  doctrinal  or  ethical  truth,  or 
both  —  cannot  be  one  fitted  to  meet  the  hopes,  or  fulfil  the 
destinies,  of  man.  It  may  contain  elements  of  truth,  and 
those  elements  may  give  it — must  give  it  —  a  certain  degree 
of  power.  They  may  adapt  it,  within  circumscribed  limits,  to 
the  attainments  of  a  race,  an  age,  or  a  country.  They  may 
give  it  a  permanence  which  turns  out,  on  examination,  to  be 
the  permanence  of  a  sealed-up  corpse  that  crumbles  into  dust 
when  light  and  air  are  let  in  upon  it.  They  may  work  for  it 
an  expansion  that  may  continue  for  a  time,  but  that  comes  at 
last  to  an  end.  Such  a  system  carries  within  itself  its  own 
doom  of  death.  It  proves  itself  incapable  of  doing  that  for 
humanity  which  the  very  instincts  of  humanity  demand. 

There  is  still  another  question  that  may  well  be  asked, 
although  it  may  appear  to  be  covered  by  those  that  have 
gone  before.  What  system  has  most  thoroughly  developed 
human  intelligence,  and  given  the  greatest  impulse  to  the  arts 
and  industries  that  in  our  time  have  achieved  such  triumphs  ? 
I  hold  that  any  system,  institution,  religion,  which,  in  the 
lapse  of  ages,  has  shown  itself  competent  for  such  achieve- 
ments as  these  questions  indicate  ;  which  has  been  able  to 
gather  up  all  those  preparations  of  all  previous  time,  and  use 
them  for  the  best  interests  of  the  race  ;  which  has  shown 
itself  possessed  of  capabilities  of  adaptation  to  all  nations, 
under  all  conditions  of  life,  raising  them  meantime  towards, 
if  not  to,  its  own  ideal  of  what  men  should  be  ;  which  has 
proved  itself  permanent,  not  as  being  fossilized  into  immo- 
bility, but  possessed  of  an  ever-animating  life ;  which  has 
exhibited  a  power  of  expansion,  that,  though  sometimes 
checked,  has  never  been  destroyed,  and  to  whose  advances 
no  limits  can  be  set ;  which  has  most  thoroughly  developed 
human  intelligence,  and  given  the  largest  impulse  to  those 
arts  and  industries  that  contribute  to  the  noblest  civiliza- 
tion,—  I  hold  that  such  a  system  or  religion  has  vindicated 


540  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

its  rights  to  hold  the  world  as  its  heritage,  and  the  nations  as 
its  possession. 

More  than  that,  I  claim  for  it  the  right  to  demand,  that,  in 
the  absence  of  any  other  adequate  explanation  of  its  origin, 
its  nature,  and  its  powers,  its  own  account  shall  be  accepted. 
Nor  is  more  included  in  this  demand  than  a  truly  scientific 
method  must  necessarily  require.  Canons  of  historical  criti- 
cism can  no  more  rightly  be,  a  priori,  arbitrary  and  antece- 
dent to  the  facts  of  history,  than  canons  of  good  writing  can 
properly  be,  a  priori,  arbitrary  and  antecedent  to  good  models 
in  composition.  All  true  canons  of  criticism,  whether  his- 
torical or  literar}',  are  —  as  Pope  said  long  ago  of  the  latter 
—  "  discovered,  not  devised."  In  either  case,  facts  precede 
theories.  Theories,  indeed,  must  come  out  from  facts,  and 
not  be  imported  into  them. 

Taking,  then,  the  testimony  of  almost  nineteen  centuries, 
what  answer  do  we  obtain  to  the  questions,  gathered  up  into 
one,  that  we  have  been  asking  ?  Where  do  we  find  the 
system,  religion,  or  institution,  which  has  met  the  conditions 
presented  to  us,  and  accomplished,  with  whatever  drawbacks, 
the  work  for  the  race  for  which  all  previous  history  had  been 
the  unconscious  preparation  ? 

I  anticipate  your  answer  to  this  question,  as  you  anticipate 
mine.  In  truth,  there  is  but  one  answer  that  can  be  given: 
It  is  the  system  of  Christianity,  the  religion  of  Jesus  Christ, 
the  institution  known  as  the  Christian  Church,  that  has  accom- 
plished this  ;  not  Confucius,  not  Buddha  with  the  Sutras,  not 
Mohammed  with  the  Koran,  not  any  thing  that  has  been,  or 
that  is,  in  the  world,  has  accomplished  this,  except  Jesus  Christ 
and  his  Church. 

Of  Christianity  only,  can  that  be  said  which  Montesquieu 
has  .said  of  it:  "The  religion  of  heaven  has  not  established 
itself  by  the  same  methods  as  the  religions  of  this  world. 
Read  over  the  history  of  the  Church,  and  you  will  see  the 
jjrodigies  of  the  Christian  religion.  Has  it  resolved  to  enter 
a  country?     It  knows  how  to  open  the  gates  of  that  country, 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  541 

and  can  use  all  instruments  that  present  themselves.  Some- 
times God  employs  a  few  fishermen,  sometimes  an  emperor 
on  his  throne.  Does  the  Christian  religion  conceal  itself  in 
subterranean  hiding-places  ?  Wait  a  moment,  arid  you  will 
hear  the  imperial  majesty  speaking  in  its  behalf.  It  crosses 
seas,  rivers,  mountains :  there  are,  in  truth,  no  obstacles  that 
can  arrest  its  march.  Are  human  minds  repugnant  to  it?  It 
overcomes  that  repugnance.  Are  customs,  usages,  edicts, 
laws,  opposed  to  it  ?  It  will  triumph  over  natural  conditions, 
over  laws  and  legislators."  Strange  and  striking  words  these  ! 
But  how  strictly  true  !  What  a  picture  they  present  of  the 
march  of  Christianity  along  the  historic  pathway  of  the  world, 
taking  up  as  it  advances  all  the  factors  that  the  ages  have 
prepared  for  a  possible  future,  and  from  them,  and  with  them, 
enabling  men  —  by  its  spirit,  in  its  power,  through  its  life  — 
to  work  out  all  that  is  best  and  noblest  in  that  civilization  of 
whose  triumphs,  on  every  side  and  in  all  directions,  we  are 
never  weary  of  making  our  boast ! 

No  man,  indeed,  but  one  who  has  carefully  investigated 
the  subject,  can  have  the  smallest  idea  of  the  extent  to  which 
Christianity  has  permeated,  vitalized,  and  enlarged  the  lan- 
guages of  civilized  nations  ;  so  that  if  you  could  eliminate 
from  them  its  influence  and  work,  you  would  not  only  greatly 
narrow  their  limits,  and  abridge  their  fulness,  but  you  would 
almost  be  compelled  to  learn  them  over  again,  before  you 
could  use  them  intelligently.  And  then,  besides,  what  a  mass 
of  the  noblest  and  best  literature  must  be  utterly  disfigured, 
if  not  absolutely  destroyed  !  This  would  be  an  invasion  of 
barbarism  in  very  truth. 

Why,  the  very  language  in  which  unbelief  voices  its 
attacks  on  Christianity,  is  language  that  largely  owes  its 
capacity  to  express  the  ideas  that  unbelievers  seek  to  com- 
municate, to  the  influence  of  Christianity  itself. 

There  are,  however,  hieher  thino-s  to  be  considered  in 
civilization,  as  vitalized  by  Christianity,  than  science,  indus- 
trial arts,  language,  or  letters.     We  have  also  to  look  at  the 


542  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

moral  training  and  advancement  of  civilized  nations.  Here 
is,  after  all,  the  crucial  test.  With  this,  we  may  well  press 
upon  men's  thoughts  the  influence  of  Christianity  in  the  vari- 
ous matters  named,  and  in  others  like  them.  But  without 
this,  all  those  other  things  would  amount  to  nothing,  and 
would  not  be  worth  the  trouble  of  considering. 

Let  me  then  state  this  higher  aspect  of  the  influence  of 
Christianity  in  the  shortest  and  most  comprehensive  form : 
The  influence  of  Christianity  on  the  moral  education  of 
nations  is  the  great  fact  of  modern  times. 


GEORGE    C.    LORIMER. 

[Jesus  the  World's  Saviour.    Chicago :  1883.     Pp.  7,  8.] 

Jesus  is  the  source,  the  supreme  and  ultimate  source,  of 
the  most  sacred  hopes  of  the  race,  and  the  only  perfect  model 
of  every  thing  that  beautifies  it  in  character  and  dignifies  it  in 
conduct.  In  the  sphere  wherein  he  moves,  he  is  absolutely 
the  sole  and  exclusive  teacher,  and  the  unparalleled  and  un- 
matched exemplar.  In  comparison  with  him  and  his  influ- 
ence, all  other  careers,  even  the  most  saintly,  are  as  trivial  and 
unavailing  as  the  shadow  of  a  cloud  falling  on  sea  or  mountain. 

From  the  window  of  the  room  where  these  words  are 
penned,  the  Lake  of  Lucerne,  in  all  its  transparent  and  placid 
loveliness,  is  visible,  and  recalls  the  part  it  plays  in  common 
with  other  inland  waters  in  the  physical  economy  of  Europe. 
The  glacier  floods  flow  into  the  lakes  of  Switzerland,  where 
they  are  sunned  and  purified,  that  they  may  thus  be  rendered 
wholesome  before  they  stream  forth  as  rivers  on  their  fertiliz- 
ing mission. 

And  thus  the  blessed  Christ  receives  humanity,  sin-soiled 
and  surcharged  with  the  elements  of  moral  death,  and  does 
what  no  other  being,  even  the  best,  can  do,  —  transforms  it 
by  contact  with  himself  into  his  own  image,  and  sends  it  forth 
in  sacred  ministries  of  grace  and  healing. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  543 


RICHARD    S.    STORRS. 

[The  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity.     New  York:  1884.     Pp-  35-  53,60-63,90,94, 

267,  271,  279,  329.] 

That  a  new  and  nobler  conception  of  God  has  been 
common  among  men  since  Jesus  of  Nazareth  proclaimed  his 
religion,  it  seems  quite  impossible  to  doubt ;  and  that  change 
and  elevation  of  thought  on  this  supreme  theme  have  been 
radically  due  to  his  sovereign  instruction  and  his  efficacious 
and  undecaying  influence,  appears  equally  evident.  But 
certainly,  if  this  be  admitted  as  true,  it  cannot  be  dismissed 
as  of  trivial  importance.  It  must  be  conceded  to  be  of  a 
really   royal   significance. 

No  greater  intellectual  or  spiritual  gain  can  be  conceived 
for  any  man  than  that  which  is  implied  in  a  more  vivid, 
just,  and  inspiring  conception  of  him  from  whom  his  nature 
came,  and  with  whom  he  stands,  by  reason  of  that  nature,  in 
essential  relations.  No  object  can  be  conceived  more  worthy 
the  aim  of  a  Divine  revelation  than  to  give  men  precisely 
this  uplift  and  advancement  in  the  knowledge  of  their  Creator. 
It  has  to  do  with  their  mental  progress,  in  power  and  in 
culture.  It  is  intimately  connected  with  the  training  of  con- 
science, and  of  the  sweetest  and  noblest  affections.  There  is, 
in  fact,  no  element  in  our  energetic  and  complex  natures 
which  should  not  take  beauty  and  blessing  upon  it  from  a 
clearer  and  larger  apprehension  of  God.  As  flowers  and 
trees  respond  with  blooms  brilliant  and  fragrant  to  the  kiss 
of  the  sunshine  when  spring  replaces  the  icy  winter,  so  what- 
ever is  noblest  in  man,  and  whatever  is  most  delicate,  must 
answer  the  appeal  of  a  radiant  discovery  of  that  presiding 
Personal  Glory,  from  which  order  and  life,  power  and  love, 
incessantly  proceed.   .   .   . 

When  Christianity  was  proclaimed  in  the  earth,  it  did  two 
things  in  regard  to  the  immaculate  purity  immanent  in  God. 
It  illustrated  more  fully  its  meaning  and  energy,  and  it  made 


544  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

that  the  possession  of  mankind  which  before  had  pertained 
to  a  separated  people.  Jesus  himself,  as  admitted  by  all,  was 
intolerant  of  sin,  though  inviting  and  welcoming  toward  each 
who  turn  from  it. 

With  flaming  eye,  and  a  voice  whose  intonations  still 
reverberate  from  the  page,  he  rebuked  pride,  greed,  malice, 
and  undue  passion,  though  aroused  for  himself;  the  simulation 
of  unreal  virtue ;  the  lust  within,  even  if  unexpressed  in  the 
life;  a  mere  indifference  to  spiritual  welfare. 

Not  in  the  Decalogue,  not  in  the  sternest  warnings  of  Old- 
Testament  prophets,  is  the  Divine  pureness  of  thought  and 
will  so  radiantly  apparent  as  in  the  sermon  preached  by  him 
on  the  grass-covered  ridge  of  the  Horns  of  Hattin.  It  is 
incorporate  in  his  life,  in  every  action  which  illustates  his  spirit. 
The  Divine  purity,  resplendent  in  Jesus,  must  make,  as  it  has 
made,  an  incessant  and  an  indelible  impression  on  the  mind 
of  the  world.  As  exhibited  in  him,  giving  him  his  lordship, 
constituting-  the  lig^ht  to  enlighten  the  nations,  it  smote  with 
instant  and  powerful  impact  on  the  souls  of  his  disciples  ;  and 
the  final  description,  by  his  last  surviving  personal  disciple, 
of  him  who  is  utterly  righteous  and  true,  surrounded  by  those 
redeemed  and  renewed  to  a  similar  righteousness,  only  answers 
to  all  which  had  gone  before  in  setting  forth  this  perfect 
holiness.  As  the  indestructible  azure  in  sea  or  sky.  as  the 
golden  beauty  in  the  sunshine,  this  character  appears,  through- 
out both  the  Testaments,  immortal  in  God. 

I  match  every  other  conception  of  God  ever  known  in 
the  world,  even  that  which  obtained  among  the  instructed 
Hebrew  people,  against  this  which  is  radiant  in  the  New 
Testament  ;  and  all  the  others  —  of  philosophers  most  enlight- 
ened, of  rapt  and  fine  poetic  spirits  —  are  as  painted  dust  in 
the  comparison,  torch-lights  beneath  a  meridian  sun.  tinted 
vapors  before  the  heaven-high  crystal  air.  It  ma)'  truly  be 
said,  as  it  has  been  said  many  times,  that  if  Jesus  had  done 
nothing  more  than  to  teach  men  to  say  "  Our  Father,"  in  the 
Christian  sense,  his  Divine  legation  would  have  been  justified. 


THE    FRIENDS    OF   JESUS    REMOVE    HIS    BODY    FROM    THE   CROSS. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  545 

History  has  ceased  to  be  an  enigma,  beneath  the  discover)' 
of  an  order  of  events  foreseen  by  him  who  is  thus  declared 
sovereign  in  energy,  and  prescient  in  thought.  There  is  now 
majestic  rhythm  in  it.  It  is  felt  to  be  moving  toward  fresh 
consummations.  Even  nature  has  been  enjoyed  with  fresh 
enthusiasm,  in  the  light  of  the  new  and  larger  knowledge 
of  him  who  ordained  it ;  and  a  love  of  landscape,  unfamiliar 
to  the  world  of  heathen  thought,  is  almost  as  present  as 
household  affection  in  the  realm  of  modern  life  and  letters. 

There  is  a  courage  and  hopefulness  of  spirit  not  felt 
before  ;  an  expectation  of  better  ages.  There  has  passed  a 
transcendent  impulse  into  poetry ;  and  songs  are  now  heard 
such  as  never  before  had  stirred  the  air,  exalting  the  spirit  as 
with  the  rush  of  angelic  plumes.  Philosophy  itself  takes  a 
finer  exactness,  on  higher  levels  with  larger  range  ;  while  the 
characteristic  spiritual  life  of  the  modern  believer  infolds  ele- 
ments unparalleled,  unimagined  in  the  earlier  time.  The 
lowliest  feel  themselves  related  in  spirit  to  the  Lord  of  the 
universe.  The  little  child  feels  it  as  well  as  the  mature  ;  the 
savage  just  enlightened,  as  well  as  the  cultured  Christian  disci- 
ple ;  the  peasant,  uninstructed  in  human  knowledge,  only  more 
easily  than  the  savant.  It  is  not  strange  to  such,  henceforth, 
that  God  has  builded  a  city  above,  and  has  crowded  it  with 
glories  which  men  cannot  prefigure,  that  they  at  last  may 
share  his  rest.  It  is  not  strange,  or  passing  belief,  that  the 
hand  which  holds  the  universe  together  should  wipe  the  tears 
from  human  eyes. 

The  grandest,  tenderest,  most  inspiring  thought  which  the 
mind  of  the  world  has  ever  received  is  this  of  God,  now  made 
familiar  to  it  through  Jesus.  Even  the  sceptic  has  to  admit  it 
the  loveliest  of  dreams,  while  the  discerning  student  of  history 
finds  in  it  the  source  of  a  vast  prophetic  change  in  the  life 
of  mankind.  I  do  not  argue,  you  observe,  for  the  truth  of 
this  conception  of  God ;  but  I  point  to  the  majesty,  harmony, 
and  impressiveness  of  it,  and  to  its  effects,  as  vital  and  grand 
beyond  possible  cavil.     It  holds  its  place  while  ages  pass,  as 


54^  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

unaffected  by  changes  of  custom  or  mutations  of  states  as  the 
atmosphere  is  by  the  waving  of  trees.  It  involves  supremest 
blessing  and  promise.  All  character,  rooted  in  love  to  the 
Highest,  takes  from  that  a  superior  glory ;  philanthropy, 
heroism,  domestic  affection,  the  very  passion  of  patriotism 
being  ennobled  and  consecrated  by  it.  Self-surrender  for  the 
truth,  self-sacrifice  for  others,  which  were  the  rare  experience 
of  the  few,  have  become  the  familiar  enthusiasm  of  the  many, 
since  the  divine  authority  and  splendor  appeared  in  Jesus  ; 
and  no  occasional  fitful  ecstasy  of  Philo  or  Plotinus  could 
rival  that  sweet  and  solemn  joy  which  has  come  to  millions 
of  human  souls  since  the  God  of  the  New  Testament  was 
declared  to  the  world. 

There  is  no  department  of  human  experience  on  which 
there  does  not  fall  to-day  a  beneficent  force  from  that  declara- 
tion. The  change  from  the  old  world  to  the  new,  in  this 
regard  if  in  no  other,  can  only  be  compared  to  the  change  of 
which  the  voyager  is  sensible  when,  turning  his  keel  from 
arctic  seas,  he  meets  on  the  mighty  oceanic  currents  airs 
prophetic  already  of  the  softness,  the  fragrance,  and  the 
serene  brilliance  of  unreached  tropics. 

If  the  religion  announced  in  words  so  strangely  simple, 
yet  so  full  of  authority,  from  the  rugged  and  lowly  hills  of 
Galilee,  had  done  nothing  but  make  this  impression  on  the 
life  of  mankind,  it  would  take  its  place  as  the  highest,  most 
positive,  and  beneficent  energy  which  the  earth  has  contained  ; 
surpassing  arts,  and  arms,  and  ethics,  as  the  unsounded  skies 
surpass  our  roofs.  It  might,  assuredly,  have  come  from  God, 
—  whether  in  fact  it  did  so  or  not,  —  if  only  for  this  purpose 
of  teaching  mankind  what  before  had  not  been  affirmed  or 
surmised  concerning  him  whom  all  the  peoples  had  dimly  felt 
or  keenly  feared,  but  the  picture  of  whose  radiant  and  sove- 
reign holiness,  vital  with  love,  was  hung  up  on  no  celestial 
constellations,  was  imaged  on  no  poetic  fancy,  is  only  shown 
to  the  world  which  it  blesses  in  the  mission,  the  words,  and 
the  face  of  Jesus. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  547 

However  men  have  quarrelled  with  the  supreme  require- 
ment of  the  Scripture  in  both  the  Testaments,  "  Be  ye  holy, 
since  God  is  holy,"  no  one  can  deny  that  it  contains  the 
noblest  eulogy  on  human  nature,  in  its  constituent  moral 
powers,  which  was  ever  pronounced.  We  cannot  rival  God  in 
power,  —  the  angels  cannot,  —  or  in  the  measureless  infinitude 
of  his  knowledge.  But  in  that  which  is  grander  than  power 
or  knowledge,  in  the  character,  of  sovereign  and  unspeakable 
glory,  to  which  all  else  in  him  is  subordinate,  men  are  required 
by  this  religion  to  rival  God  :  through  perfect  love  to  be  as 
holy  as  himself,  as  the  single  drop  in  its  sphericity  is  as  per- 
fect as  oceans  ;  as  the  single  sun-ray,  slanting  through  the 
crevice,  is  as  perfect  in  its  intrinsic  splendor  as  measureless 
floods  of  the  solar  effulgence. 

To  the  slave  at  Corinth,  the  despised,  rebellious,  and  pas- 
sionate Jew  in  the  Roman  Ghetto  across  the  Tiber,  this  was 
a  measure  of  character  as  far  surpassing  the  reach  of  his 
powder,  as  he  yet  knew  this,  —  and  knew  not  the  grace  which 
might  assist  It,  —  as  It  would  be  to  climb  on  star-beams  to  the 
sky,  or  to  take  up  the  piles  of  Lebanon  In  his  fingers. 

But  he  could  not  but  feel  —  as  no  one  now  can  refuse  to 
feel  —  that  he  who  presented  a  requirement  like  that,  put 
Immensest  honor  on  human  nature,  an  honor  simply  unpar- 
alleled and  supreme.  To  have  offered  man  a  garland  of  suns, 
would  not  really  have  attested  so  supremely  the  divine  honor 
put  upon  him.   .   .   , 

Certainly,  no  other  eulogy  so  sublime  has  been  pro- 
nounced on  human  nature  as  that  which  was  thus  pronounced 
by  Christianity  when  it  broke  Into  the  history  of  the  world,  at 
the  outset  of  our  era,  which  Is  Implied  In  It  to-day,  w^herever 
its  astonishing  messages  are  carried.  I  find  it  hard  sometimes 
to  entertain  sincere  respect  for  many  of  the  arguments 
brought  against  the  religion  \vhlch  has  changed  so  substan- 
tially the  life  of  the  world.  But  that  which  seems  the  foolish- 
est  of  all  —  a  mere  mephltic  waft  of  air  —  is  the  allegation 
which  occasionally  Is  made,  which  has  been  rampantly  made 


548  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

in  our  time,  that  it  degrades  the  nature  of  man,  and  puts  too 
low  an  estimate  upon  it !  How  soon  will  men  complain  that 
showers  bring  drought,  and  that  sunshine  makes  darkness  too 
complete ! 

Character  was  the  essential  thing  under  Christianity.  It 
portrayed  this  as  it  ought  to  be.  It  demanded  it  with  a  per- 
emptory, with  what  seemed  an  intolerant,  tone  of  authority. 
It  made  men's  entire  future  experience  depend  on  its  posses- 
sion, and  brought  the  unmeasured  pressure  of  celestial 
motives  to  prompt  to  its  attainment.  And  so  it  smote  the 
slumbering  conscience  as  the  clangor  of  a  thousand  trumpets 
in  the  air  could  hardly  have  smitten  the  startled  sense. 

Not  content,  however,  with  delineating  this  character  in 
words,  however  glowing  with  inward  lustre,  it  showed  it 
in  vivid  realization,  in  the  personal  Head  of  that  religion,  in 
whom  charity  and  power  both  passing  the  limits  of  historical 
parallel  were  declared  to  have  been  inseparably  joined  ;  in 
whom  no  trace  of  the  evil  had  appeared  which  infected 
society ;  who  suffered,  though  sovereign ;  who  was  patient 
amid  incessant  provocation ;  who  claimed  for  himself  the 
highest  place,  and  the  largest  authority  over  human  souls,  but 
who  yet  gave  his  life  to  win  the  wandering,  to  enlighten  the 
obscure,  to  save  the  condemned. 

According  to  the  early  Christian  conception,  this  un- 
matched character  had  appeared  in  the  world,  at  once  to  glorify 
and  to  condemn  it,  in  him  whom  his  disciples  loved  as  a  brother 
while  reverinof  him  as  their  Lord.  No  matter  now  when  the 
Gospels  were  written,  or  when  the  oral  tradition  presupposed 
became  compact  and  current :  this  conception  of  the  Christ 
was  certainly  in  the  Church  when  Paul's  principal  Epistles 
were  written  ;'  and  it  had  been,  as  appears  from  those  Epistles, 
from  the  beginning.  They  who  early  followed  the  Lord 
certainly  believed  what  Athanase  Coquerel  eloquently  said, 
in  answer  to  Strauss,  that  "  Jesus  is  the  ideal  of  virtue  ;  so 
perfect  that  all  the  efforts  of  the  most  delicate  conscience,  the 
most  fertile  imagination,  the  most  expansive  charity,  cannot 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  549 

add  to  it  the  least  trait ;  "  and  they  also  believed,  with  the 
same  enthusiastic  and  untrammelled  preacher,  that  the  ideal 
thus  exhibited  was  a  practical  ideal ;  that  while  we  admire, 
extol,  and  worship,  we  are  also  under  supreme  obligation, 
through  the  help  which  he  offers,  to  aspire  to  resemble  him. 

Men  had,  therefore,  by  degrees,  to  recognize  the  fact  that 
a  new  character  had  appeared  in  the  world,  among  men  like 
themselves :  a  character  in  which  gentleness,  sweetness,  and 
saintliness  of  demeanor  were  combined  with  enthusiasm  and 
inflexible  zeal ;  in  which  was  a  joy  that  blended  inseparably 
with  supreme  self-devotion,  and  a  conquering  hope  that  no 
enmities  could  crush.  It  was  an  evangel  in  human  life  ;  a 
discovery  of  something  transcendent  in  the  spirit ;  a  living 
revelation  of  forces  supernal. 

No  matter  what  the  explanation  may  be,  the  fact  remains 
indestructible  in  history,  that  the  religion  preached  by  Jesus, 
simple  as  it  seemed,  and  wanting  in  any  equipment  whatever 
of  secular  force,  with  no  slightest  aid  from  army  or  navy, 
treasury  or  senate,  and  with  all  the  letters  and  arts  of  the  age 
for  its  unwearied  moral  opponents,  took  the  foremost  peoples 
and  cities  of  the  world,  at  the  time  when  vice  in  every  form  was 
most  triumphant  and  most  universal,  and  wrought  a  change 
unprophesied  and  unmeasured.  It  conquered,  where  philoso- 
phies had  failed.  It  exalted,  where  arts  had  degraded.  It  puri- 
fied, where  religions  had  polluted  ;  and,  in  the  eloquent  words 
of  another,  it  made  "  the  instrument  of  the  slave's  agony  a 
symbol  more  glorious  than  the  laticlave  of  councils  or  the  dia- 
dem of  kings."  The  splendor  of  that  supreme  achievement  no 
scepticism  can  shadow,  no  lapse  of  time  rob  of  its  brightness. 

In  a  memorable  passage  by  Macaulay,  in  his  essay  on 
Mitford's  "  History  of  Greece,"  he  says  of  Athens,  with  a 
scholar's  enthusiasm:."  Her  power  is  indeed  manifest,  in  the 
senate,  on  the  field  of  battle,  in  the  schools  of  philosophy. 
But  these  are  not  her  glory.  Wherever  literature  consoles 
sorrow  or  assuages  pain,  wherever  it  brings  gladness  to  eyes 
that  fail  with  wakefulness  and  tears,  and  ache  for  the  dark 


550  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

house  and  the  long  sleep,  —  there  is  exhibited,  in  its  noblest 
form,  the  immortal  influence  of  Athens." 

In  only  a  more  reverent  and  affectionate  spirit,  and  surely 
with  a  justice  still  more  apparent,  we  may  say  of  Christianity, 
that  while  it  transformed  the  savage  and  sensual  life  of  the 
Empire,  while  it  mastered  the  barbarians  who  broke  upon  that 
in  successive  terrific  inundations  of  destruction,  while  it  has 
changed  the  face  of  Europe,  building  cathedrals,  hospitals, 
universities,  and  has  covered  this  country  with  at  least  the 
foundation  and  lower  stories  of  its  appropriate  civilization, 
while  it  has  made  the  enlightened  and  aspiring  Christendom  of 
to-day  the  fact  of  chief  importance  thus  far  in  the  progress 
of  mankind  —  its  true  glory  is  that  it  has  wiped  the  tears  of 
sorrow  from  the  eyes  of  its  disciples,  and  has  comforted  hearts 
which  were  desolate  with  grief;  that  it  has  given  celestial 
visions  to  those  who  dwelt  beneath  thatched  roofs,  and  has 
taught  a  happier  humility  to  the  proud;  that  it  has  shed 
victorious  tranquillity  on  those  who  have  seen  the  shadows  of 
death  closing  around  them,  and  has  caused  to  be  written  over 
their  graves  the  lofty  words  of  promise  and  cheer,  "  I  am  the 
resurrection  and  the  life." 

This  is  the  diadem  of  this  religion  :  sparkling  with  gems, 
lucid  and  vivid,  such  as  never  were  set  in  any  philosophic  or 
poetic  crown.  Because  of  these  effects,  and  not  merely  for 
its  influences  upon  cosmical  progress,  men  have  loved  this 
religion  with  a  passionate  intensity  beside  which  all  other 
enthusiasms  were  weak.  Because  of  these,  if  for  nothing  else, 
it  will  live  in  the  world  till  human  hearts  have  ceased  to  beat. 


ISAAC  AUGUST    DORNER. 

[System  of  Christian  Ethics.     Now  York :  1S87.     Pp.  346,  347.] 

Christ  unveils  the  law  of  life  perfecdy  and  efl"ectively  by 
the  example  and  pattern  which  he  affords  ;  or,  in  other  words, 
he  unveils  it  by  fulfilling  it.      By  this  means  the  law  remains 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  55  I 

no  longer  in  an  impersonal  form  ;  but  as  personal,  holy  love, 
it  assumes  an  attractive  and  lovely  shape.  Christ  encourages 
us  to  fulfil  the  law  by  showing  that  it  can  be  fulfilled,  and 
thus  establishing  our  belief  in  its  perfect  validity.   .   .   . 

Christ  unveils  the  whole  counsel  and  will  of  God  from  its 
very  foundation.  He  does  not,  therefore,  reveal  will  merely 
as  holy  and  just,  and  so  making  demands  upon  us,  but  also 
in  its  sanctifying  and  pardoning  character,  and  so  as  bestow- 
ing something  upon  us.  The  divine  law  of  life  made  manifest 
in  him  becomes  fruitful  and  efficacious,  only  by  his  being  at 
the  same  time  the  law  of  faith.  ...  If  he  were  merely  a 
teacher  and  moral  lawgiver,  his  person  would  have  only  an 
accidental  significance  like  that  of  Moses,  or  one  of  the 
prophets.     But  Christ  is  what  he  teaches. 

Christ,  moreover,  though  he  is  an  individual  man,  can  be 
the  all-embracing  law  for  all  men.  The  form  of  personality 
is  not  a  limitation  for  love,  it  is  rather  the  means  by  which 
love  manifests  itself.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  love  to  take  up 
its  abode  in  individuals  ;  and  the  divine  ofood  comes  to  actual 
historical  existence  in  the  person  of  him  who,  on  his  human 
side,  possesses  every  requisite  for  its  manifestation.  Thus  is 
he  the  Son  of  man  ;  he  is  of  universal  significance,  and  has 
the  same  relation  to  all.  It  is  a  duty  incumbent  upon  the 
universal  human  conscience,  to  acknowledge  Christ  as  the  law 
of  faith ;  for  he  is  the  objective  conscience  of  humanity,  its 
ethical  truth  and  wisdom. 


THEODORE    KEIM. 


[The  History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara.    London:  18S3.    Vol.  ii.  pp.  65,  66;  vol.  vi.  pp. 

3S9-392,  403,  404,  416.] 

We  have  no  special  desire  to  think  of  the  creative  action 
of  God  as  thoueh  it  were  different  in  kind  in  the  sendincr  of 
Christ  from  that  operation  of  God  by  which  he  calls  into  being 
the  great  leaders  of  every  century.     For  it  will  seem  to  us  to 


4 
552  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

be  the  same  God,  who,  far  beyond  the  boundaries  of  surround- 
ing circumstance,  of  age,  of  general  development,  brings 
forth  in  one  place  the  towering  heights  of  thought,  and  in 
another,  as  here,  a  model  unique  of  its  kind,  not  indeed  of 
the  whole  territory  of  life,  but  of  moral  and  religious  perfec- 
tion. In  opposition  to  those  timid  ones,  who  tremble  lest  by 
such  a  comparison  they  should  lose  the  dignity  and  singleness 
of  Jesus,  we  should  find  that  dignity  sufficiently  preserved  in 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  holiest  centre  of  humanity,  the  real  point 
of  union  between  the  spirit  of  man  and  of  God,  in  which  the 
perfection  of  Jesus  was  built  up  ;  and  that  no  progress  of  ages, 
though  it  even  overthrow  and  surpass  sublimest  worlds  of 
thought,  is  able  to  outshine  the  diamond  once  set  in  full,  pure 
nobility  of  a  godlike  life,  and  of  a  godlike  mind,  as  though 
it  were  an  old  curiosity  gone  dull  with  years.  And  yet  we 
should  not  do  full  justice  to  the  greatness  of  Jesus,  unless 
we  distinguished  the  creative  action  of  God  in  his  person  from 
every  other  in  point  of  energy,  and  so  far  ultimately  in  kind 
as  well  as  something  by  itself  and  special. 

All  else  which  we  may  regard  in  any  way  as  a  deed  of 
God,  within  the  lines  of  humanity,  has  always  after  all  a  meas- 
ured movement  of  more  or  less,  a  mingling  of  perfection  and 
of  deficiency,  strength  and  weakness,  of  that  which  excels 
with  that  which  may  be  surpassed;  sparks  thrown  by  God  into 
the  dark  earthy  formation,  drops  of  the  life  of  God  in  the 
broad  and  troubled  river  of  humanity,  no  godlike  world  of 
light,  no  godlike  sea  of  life.  But  here  the  divine  energy,  say 
we  rather  the  divine  self-communication,  is  one  that  with 
unbroken  might  breaks  through  :  it  is  a  whole,  full,  blameless 
life,  no  piecework,  no  mixture  of  the  lofty  and  the  base  ;  it  is 
a  divine  creation  in  full  force  of  largest  love  ;  for  it  is  ilie 
completion  of  man  as  man,  the  issuing  of  the  creation  into 
the  being  of  the  Creator,  the  blest  repose  of  God  in  the  work 
of  his  own  hands.   .   .   . 

What  has  lie  himself,  the  most  appropriate  and  best  in- 
formed witness,  said  about  his  work  and  his  person  in  relation 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  553 

to  the  Deity  and  humanity,  and  to  the  course  of  universal  his- 
tory ?  There  is  no  doubt,  that,  notwithstanding  the  great 
humihty  which  he  always  exhibits  towards  God  and  the  divine 
law,  he  makes  great  claims.  Though  he  recognizes  the  an- 
cient relation  as  of  perpetual  validity,  though  he  often  repre- 
sents his  own  new  revelation  of  the  Father  to  be  a  primitive 
truth  accessible  to  every  one  from  the  days  of  the  creation, 
he  is  nevertheless  undoubtingly  conscious,  and  in  exalted 
moments  of  self-examination  and  self-disclosure  he  admits  to 
himself  and  to  others,  that  he  knows  God  more  profoundly 
and  truly  than  did  Moses  and  the  prophets ;  nay,  that  he 
knows  God  in  a  unique  and  unsurpassable  manner  ;  that  he 
has  discovered  an  easy  and  rest-producing  yoke  of  piety,  con- 
trasting strongly  with  the  oppressive  burdens  of  the  scribes ; 
and  that  by  words  and  deeds,  from  the  novel  miracles  of  his 
power  and  compassion  to  his  sacrificial  death,  he  has  initiated 
for  his  people,  whose  unconditional  obedience  he  yearns  for, 
that  prosperous  condition  of  the  golden  Messianic  age  for 
which,  out  of  the  obscure  past,  the  Old-Testament  saints  had 
eagerly  longed.  .  .  .  Yet  he  knows  himself  to  be,  in  his 
understanding,  in  his  life,  in  his  action,  a  master  exalted  above 
all  past,  present,  and  future,  the  final  messenger  of  God,  and 
more  than  that,  the  well-beloved,  the  Son  of  God  above  all 
sons,  in  the  knowledge  and  fellowship  of  whom  the  Father 
finds  satisfaction,  as  he  in  the  Father. 

If  by  the  side  of  these  assertions  about  himself —  which, 
diminished  by  some  and  magnified  by  others,  in  a  welcome 
manner  lift,  though  they  do  not  altogether  remove,  the  veil 
from  the  enigma  of  this  character  — we  place  the  testimony 
of  his  history,  the  latter  brilliantly  confirms  and  completes  the 
chief  points  of  what  Jesus  has  said  of  his  work. 

It  is  beyond  all  question,  that  the  leading  features  of  Jiis 
religion  are  the  most  precious  and  the  most  enduring  acquisi- 
tions of  the  human  mind.  God  the  Father  of  man  ;  man  akin 
to  God  by  nature,  and  the  beloved  ward  of  God  ;  every  human 
life  an  existence  of  eternal  value  and  of  eternal  destiny ;  the 


554  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

genuine  service  of  God,  purity  of  heart  ;  brotherly  love  without 
measure  ;  the  tie  that  binds  men  co-extensive  with  the  race  ; 
even  terrestrial  matter  no  stumbling-block  to  piety,  but  a 
mirror  of  God,  a  sphere  of  joy  and  enjoyment,  of  bidden  and 
unbidden  labor ;  the  family  a  sanctuary  ;  a  man's  vocation  a 
praise  ;  the  state-law  a  right ;  the  cultivation  of  wisdom  and  art 
a  glorifying  of  God, — this  religion,  without  adornment  and 
modernizing,  understood  and  experienced  as  it  stands  in  letter 
and  spirit,  is  in  truth  the  highest  and  last  word  that  has  been 
spoken  upon  earth,  and  is  ever  commending  itself  afresh  as  a 
constraining  necessity  to  those  who  can  neither  with  piety, 
nor  without  all  their  thinking  and  contriving,  find  any  thing 
truer,  more  spiritual,  more  moral,  more  human. 

If  it  is  not  enough  to  mention  the  fact  that  the  world  has, 
until  now,  lived  upon  this  religion,  and  that  every  bold  attempt 
to  better  the  world  —  when  it  has  not  preached  a  total  subver- 
sion of  accepted  principles  —  has  been  satisfied  with  petty 
patchwork  on  the  basis  of  a  great  antiquity,  without  showing 
even  a  shadowy  outline  of  a  third  teacher  to  follow  Moses  and 
Jesus  ;  if  it  does  not  suffice  to  mention  this,  we  may  yet  find 
our  confidence  established  by  the  important  comparisons  which 
thinkers  and  poets,  down  to  Goethe,  Schiller,  and  Hegel,  and 
which  even  foes,  from  the  angry  Celsus  down  to  the  embit- 
tered Platonists  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  not  to  men- 
tion recent  names,  have  brought  as  rich  and  reverential  ofterings 
to  the  religion  of  Jesus,  and  chiefly  to  its  doctrine  of  divine 
humanity,  its  foundation  of  true  human  sentiment.  When  we 
recall  its  symmetrical  combination  of  philosophy  and  popular- 
ity, of  religion  and  morality,  of  humility  and  pride  of  freedom, 
of  idealism  and  realism,  of  recognition  of  the  claims  of  both 
this  world  and  the  next,  of  internality  and  tendency  to  exter- 
nal expression,  of  passivity  and  heroic  action,  of  loving  reten- 
tion of  the  old  and  most  daring  reformation,  who  can  exhaust 
its  praise  ?  .   .   . 

The  first  great  fact  in  the  personal  existence  of  |(^sns  is, 
that  his  wh(3le  being  was  constantly  full  of  the  idea  of  God  in 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  555 

the  sunny  expansion  of  God  into  the  Father;  and  the  second 
great  fact  is  the  complete  domination  of  the  idea  of  moral 
good,  which  is  indissolubly  connected  with  the  former  as 
explanation  and  expression.  It  is  usual  to  call  the  former  his 
unbroken  fellowship  with  God,  and  the  latter  his  unsullied 
sinlessness.  And  if  there  exists  the  possibility  of  showing 
both  in  him  in  full  vigor,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  lofty 
religion  which  he  preached  assumed  flesh  and  blood  first  in 
his  own  person,  and  that  in  a  unique  manner,  because  imper- 
fection reigns  in  others.  The  Church  lives  upon  this  belief; 
and  this  belief  seems  to  be  established,  without  need  of  further 
proof,  by  the  fact  that  Jesus'  religious  preaching  originated 
essentially  in  his  personal  religion  ;  and  his  wonderfully  lofty 
and  spotlessly  pure  religion  is  therefore  the  outcome  of  the 
personal  perfection  of  religious  experience  and  moral  prac- 
tice.  .   .  . 

Belief  in  the  Father,  and  the  consciousness  of  fellowship 
with  him,  filled  Jesus'  soul  and  every  feature  of  his  terrestrial 
life,  as  in  the  case  of  no  other  man.  The  general  belief  in 
the  favor  of  God,  and  in  his  own  personal  vocation  in  the 
name  of  God,  was  never  in  him,  as  in  the  most  pious,  and 
even  in  chosen  messengers  of  God,  the  subject  of  question 
and  doubt  for  a  moment,  not  even  in  his  hours  of  weariness, 
not  even  in  the  outwardly  and  inwardly  critical  hours  of  dis- 
tress and  death.  Finally,  out  of  the  feebleness  and  hesi- 
tancy of  every  critical  situation  there  sprang  up  again,  without 
protracted  oppressive  pause,  rest  in,  reliance  upon,  and  ardor 
towards  God,  as  a  higher  necessity,  as  the  only  natural  con- 
clusion ;  and  after  the  testing  and  purifying  influence  of  such 
tempests,  the  Son's  confiding  cry  to  the  Father  was  marked 
by  a  tone  of  increased  intensity  of  consecration.  Thus  even 
these  hesitancies  not  only  betray  human  characteristics,  but 
also  cover  great  victories ;  nay,  every  human  characteristic 
that  makes  its  appearance  in  this  conflict  and  struggle,  and 
in  this  perpetual,  sober,  chaste  humility,  keeping  in  view  the 
separateness  even  in  the  unity,  —  these  results,  never  violently 


556  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

achieved  by  means  of  obscure  sentiment,  ecstatic  visions,  and 
fanatical  union  with  God ;  these  creature-limitations,  never 
deceitfully  extended  and  overpassed,  —  these  are  surest  guar- 
anties of  the  soundness,  the  truth,  and  the  spiritual-moral 
reality  of  the  new  religion  which  Jesus  discovered,  and  which 
he  was  the  first  to  exhibit  in  his  own  life.  .   .  . 

It  is  not  with  him  as  with  the  other  great  characters  among 
men.  With  him  the  facts,  great  or  small,  patent  or  hidden, 
are  not  forever  reminding  us  painfully  of  the  distance  of  the 
actual  from  the  ideal.  Even  where  his  history  is  related  most 
simply  and  with  least  adornment,  or  where  it  is  without  great 
public  features,  but  leads  for  the  most  part  into  the  quietude  of 
private  life,  —  even  there  the  impression  is  more  than  one 
of  dignity,  it  is  affecting.  No  oppressive  doubt  obtrudes  itself 
between  the  ideal  which  faith  requires  in  him,  and  his  person ; 
and,  however  steadily  and  minutely  we  examine  in  order  to 
arrive  at  a  conclusion  without  any  fallacy,  we  are  still  able  to 
retain  the  strong  and  joyful  conviction  that  it  was  Virtue 
herself  that  trod  the  earth  in  him,  and  that  the  dolorous  con- 
fession made  by  antiquity,  of  the  impossibility  of  sinlessness, 
and  of  the  non-existence  of  the  ideal  of  virtue  and  wisdom, 
found  in  him  its  refutation  and  its  end. 


WILLIAM    CONNOR    MAGEE. 

[The  Gospel  and  the  Age.     London:  1884.     Pp.  128,  129.] 

The  law  of  righteousness,  which  St.  Paul  recognized  as 
the  law  of  his  beincr,  was  never  absent  from  the  mind  of 
Christ.  How  comes  it,  then,  that  in  all  his  life  there  never 
once  appears  the  slightest  trace  of  St.  Paul's  consciousness 
of  failure  to  realize  that  ideal?  In  no  one  of  all  his  utter- 
ances concerning  himself,  in  none  of  the  records  of  his 
temptations,  his  trials,  his  fears,  his  hopes,  his  most  secret 
and  inmost  thoughts  and  prayers  to  God,  do  we  ever  find  so 
much  as  a  hint  of  his  imperfection.     Never  once  do  we  hear 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  557 

from  him  a  prayer  for  forgiveness,  a  cry  for  deliverance  from 
sin.  How  is  this?  Surely  it  is  he  who  has  the  highest  ideal, 
who  is  ever  most  distressed  at  his  own  failure  to  realize  it. 
Surely  we  might  have  expected  that  the  soul,  which  in  all 
human  history  has  the  highest  and  loftiest  ideas  of  holiness, 
would  feel  most  keenly  its  own  failure  to  be  holy.  How  is  it, 
then,  that  we  find  in  him  only  the  most  calm,  serene,  and 
unbroken  self-approval  ?  How  is  it  that  the  spiritual  percep- 
tions of  Jesus  seem  at  once  so  much  higher,  and  yet  so  much 
lower,  than  those  of  all  other  men  ? 

How  came  he  to  be  at  once  so  far  beyond  St.  Paul  in  his 
ideal  of  perfection,  and  so  far  below  him  in  the  consciousness 
of  his  own  imperfection  ?  Is  his  love  for  holiness  an  hypoc- 
risy, or  his  belief  in  his  own  holiness  a  miserable  delusion  ? 
Is  this  life  of  Christ,  that  for  eighteen  centuries  has  drawn  to 
it  the  admiring  gaze  of  friends  and  foes,  nothing  after  all  but 
the  strangest  and  saddest  of  all  monstrosities,  the  most  incon- 
ceivable mystery  of  united  contradictions  ?  And  if  it  be  not 
this,  what  else  can  it  be,  but  just  the  realization  of  that  very 
ideal  of  humanity,  the  fulfilment  of  that  dream  of  righteous- 
ness which  has  haunted  every  righteous  soul  that  ever  sighed, 
and  sighed  in  vain,  after  perfection,  —  a  human  nature  freed 
from  all  taint  of  evil,  all  flaw  of  imperfection,  a  victory  and 
a  victor  manifest  in  the  flesh  ? 


EDWARDS   A.   PARK. 

[Discourses.    Andover:  1885.     Pp.  319,  320.] 

Among  all  the  productions  of  the  Divine  Mind,  there  is 
not  one,  perhaps,  which  will  ever  attract  so  many  admiring 
eyes  as  the  triumph  of  his  wisdom  in  fashioning  the  character 
of  the  man  who,  from  the  babe  of  Bethlehem,  grew  up  into 
"  the  merciful  and  faithful  High  Priest,"  who  can  be  "  touched 
with  the  feeline  of  our  infirmities,"  and  who  endears  himself 
*o  his  friends  on  earth,  "  in  that  he  himself  has  suffered,  being 


558  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

tempted,"  and  "  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are  tempted." 
There  will  be  many  brilliant  luminaries  in  the  firmament  of 
heaven.  But  the  Redeemer  says,  "  I  am  the  bright,  the 
morning  star." 

It  was  meet  that  the  character  which  is  to  be  the  model 
for  all  the  race  to  imitate  should  be  formed  with  special  care. 
It  was  meet  that  the  stamp  which  was  to  be  impressed  on  all 
the  plastic  minds  of  all  the  chosen  of  God,  through  all  time 
and  all  eternity,  should  be  wrought  out  with  a  divine  watchful- 
ness and  an  infinite  taste.  Every  lineament  must  be  drawn 
with  exactness,  for  it  is  to  be  copied  and  recopied  on  earth 
and  in  heaven  ;  and  all  the  graces  of  all  the  redeemed  are  to 
be  photographed  from  this  one  standard  of  beauty. 

The  Divine  mind  employed  upon  the  man  Christ  Jesus  all 
the  instruments  of  human  art  and  of  outward  nature,  of  the 
Bible  and  of  temptation,  —  temptations  of  sorrow  and  joy,  de- 
feat and  triumph,  —  in  order  that  wherever  we  roam  we  may 
have  a  faultless  pattern,  and  amid  all  our  queries  how  to 
conduct  ourselves  we  may  look  unto  Jesus,  and  learn  in  an 
instant  how  to  act  and  speak  and  think  and  feel. 

When  we  are  under  the  parental  roof,  or  conversing  with 
the  ministers  of  religion,  or  journeying  by  day  near  the  fields 
already  white  for  the  harvest,  or  walking  by  moonlight  through 
the  shrubbery  of  a  garden,  or  sitting  way-worn  and  weary 
near  a  fountain  of  water,  or  sailing  over  a  smooth  sea.  or  lying 
down  in  a  boat  tossed  by  the  storm,  or  looking  from  a  moun- 
tain-top upon  the  magnificent  palaces  of  a  city,  or  rejoicing  at 
a  wedding  festival,  or  going  to  the  grave  to  weep  there,  or 
conversing  in  sacred  confidence  with  our  friends,  or  listening 
to  the  taunts  of  our  enemies,  or  holding  an  office  of  trust,  or 
standing  as  a  subject  or  prisoner  before  a  ruler,  or  bond 
or  free,  or  in  health  or  sickness,  or  hungering  or  thirsting,  or 
pierced  or  bruised  or  wounded  or  bleeding  or  dying,  —  in 
all  conceivalile  circumstances  of  our  spiritual  life,  we  may  look 
up,  and  "behold  the  Man." 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  559 

HANS    LASSEN    MARTENSEN. 

[Christian  Ethics.     Edinburgh  :   1SS5.     Pp.  242-246,  257.] 

The  individual  who,  as  Saviour  and  example,  is  to  be  all 
diings  to  all  men  must  be  the  isolated,  or  unparalleled  in 
history,  of  the  human  race.  He  must  be  like  us,  must  be 
a  true  man,  subject  to  a  human  development  of  life  and 
conditions  ;  for  otherwise  he  could  not  be  our  pattern,  our 
Saviour.  .  He  must  be  unlike  us  ;  for  otherwise  he  could  not 
be  that  one  whom  we  should  all  imitate,  and  of  whose  fulness 
we  must  all  partake.  There  are  modern  pictures  of  the  char- 
acter of  Jesus,  which,  in  the  supposed  interest  of  the  ethical, 
lay  stress  on  his  humanity  so  as  to  lower  him,  to  represent 
him  as  like  us,  without  acknowledging  the  essential  dissimi- 
larity. But  if  Christ  is  to  be  our  Saviour  and  our  example, 
he  must  even  as  a  man  be  tcnlike  its.  And  the  perfection  of 
this  human  dissimilarity  between  him  and  us  Is  the  first  step 
in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  the  way  to  perceive  him  as  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father.   .  ,.  . 

That  Christ,  even  as  a  man,  is  unlike  us,  that  he  as  a  man 
is  the  isolated  in  history,  is  a  perception  which  must  force 
itself  on  every  serious  contemplation,  whether  we  fix  our 
view  on  the  work  he  has  accomplished,  and  the  influences 
which  have  proceeded  from  him,  or  fix  our  view  upon  his 
person.  A  naturalistic  system  of  contemplation  has  desired 
to  assign  to  Christ  a  place  among  "the  great  men"  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  But  every  comparison  between  Christ 
and  "great  men"  must  lead  to  the  conviction  that  his 
greatness  is  of  a  totally  different  nature  from  theirs,  and 
cannot  be  explained  by  the  principles  of  ordinary  human 
nature. 

We  may,  while  fixing  our  glance  on  the  work  of  Christ, 
take  our  starting-point  from  Schleiermacher's  treatise  on  the 
concept  of  "  the  great  man,"  whose  characteristic  he  asserts 
to  be,  that  he  exerts  a  moulding  influence  on  society.     By 


560  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

this  definition,  Schleiermacher  has  the  merit  of  bringing  back 
to  its  rightful  owners  the  predicate  of  "great  man,"  which 
most  writers  are  disposed  to  distribute  with  too  great  Hber- 
ahty. 

If  we  inquire  concerning  the  scale  of  historic  greatness 
which  must  be  adjudged  to  individual  personalities,  then  the 
great  and  the  small  can  only  be  measured  and  determined  by 
the  relation  of  the  individual  to  society,  —  by  the  intellectual 
power  belonging  to  the  individual,  and  the  infiztences  he  thereby 
exerts  on  the  whole.  Whilst  the  category  of  the  small  and 
the  insignificant  finds  its  application  in  those  persons  who  are 
lost  in  the  mass,  in  those  from  whom  no  special  influence 
on  society  proceeds,  but  who  rather,  in  their  whole  mode  of 
existence,  show  themselves  as  a  product  of  society,  since 
they  only  mirror  back  the  spirit  of  the  times,  and  of  their  own 
surroundings  ;  we  apply,  on  the  other  hand,  the  category  of 
great  to  the  men  whose  individuality  has  so  much  original 
force,  independence,  and  power,  that  it  stamps  society  with  its 
impress,  —  nay,  that  society  even  appears  as  the  product  of 
such,  as  the  work  of  their  individuality. 

Between  these  extreme  points  are  found  such  persons 
as  develop  themselves  in  a  mutual  relation  to  society  and 
their  individuality,  a  reciprocity  of  productivity  and  recep- 
tivity, of  giving  and  receiving,  an  interchange  of  intellectual 
endowments.  In  this  great  middle  class,  which  embraces  an 
infinitude  of  diversities,  we  find  not  merely  the  commonplace, 
but  also  the  excellent,  the  distinguished,  and  the  prominent ; 
but  not  the  great  par  excelleiice.  The  great  men  in  the  high- 
est sense  of  the  term  are  the  heroes,  who  predominantly  relate 
themselves  to  society,  not  as  receiving  but  as  bestowing,  and 
arc  tlicrcforc  entitled  the  benefactors  of  the  people.  Though 
they  may  receive  influences  from  society,  they  have  no  in- 
dependent significance,  becoming  only  means  and  material 
for  their  own  unfettered  creative  activity. 

The  great  man  is  not  only  the  genius  ;  for,  although  this 
is  inseparable  from  him,  yet  the  genius  is  by  no  means  always 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  56 1 

a  great  ma7i.  Shakspeare  is  a  great  poet,  Raphael  and 
Mozart  are  great  artists  ;  but  on  that  account  alone  to  call 
them  great  men  would  be  a  misapplication  of  terms.  It 
necessarily  belongs  to  the  great  man,  that  the  influence  of 
genius  should  be  inseparable  from  the  infiiLence  of  personality, 
and  that  he  not  merely  applies  himself  to  one  side  of  human 
receptivity,  not  merely  works  on  individual  circles  of  society, 
but  affects  society  as  a  totality,  by  his  creative  activity  calls 
forth  an  organization  of  society  with  the  whole  multitude  of 
circles,  powers,  and  objects. 

If  this  view  bring  along  with  it  the  admission  that  the 
great  man  cannot  be  found  in  the  domain  of  art  and  science 
because  these  agencies  are  too  narrow  and  one-sided  for  him, 
then,  doubtless,  sceptical  objections  may  be  brought  against 
it.  Thus  to  take  an  example  instai''  otnniitm,  it  may  be  asked 
if  Socrates,  the  founder  of  ethics,  who,  just  on  account  of  his 
personality,  exercised  so  great  an  influence,  ought  not  to  be 
reckoned  among  the  great  ?  We  reply,  there  are  great  men 
who  distinguish  themselves  by  an  inward  greatness  which  is 
not  measured  by  the  relation  to  the  historic  development  of 
society,  but  in  relation  to  the  ideal  of  personality,  even  if,  like 
Socrates,  their  relation  towards  it  is  only  one  of  inquiry  ;  and 
by  the  relation  of  the  individual  to  the  majority  of  those, 
never  at  any  time  a  numerous  class,  who  aspire  after  personal 
perfection  ;  and  this  internal  greatness  may  be  found  with 
men  who  have  no  place  at  all  in  the  history  of  the  world  or 
of  the  nation,  but  lived  an  unmarked  every-day  life.  However 
high  we  then  would  place  Socrates  as  a  thinker  and  as  a  man, 
however  high  we  may  rate  the  intensive  in  his  greatness,  still 
the  extensive,  the  historic  influences  on  society,  which  have 
proceeded  from  him,  are  proportionately  small,  because  his 
influence  has  only  produced  philosophic  schools,  only  addresses 
itself  to  the  philosophic,  and  thus  to  the  men  of  a  special 
stamp  of  mind  and  a  determined  stage  of  progress,  but  has 
not  been  able  to  penetrate  a  community  in  all  its  circles,  far 
less  to  mould  it  or  create  it  anew. 


562  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

And  even  if  we  should  make  the  boundaries  which  Schlei- 
ermacher  in  his  treatise  has  drawn  indefinite,  still  we  are 
always  brought  back  to  the  fact  that  the  highest  historic  great- 
ness, if  it  be  at  once  intensive  and  extensive,  can  only  show 
itself  in  the  domain  of  the  State,  the  Church,  or  of  religious 
society ;  that  great  men,  in  the  highest  sense  of  the  term,  are 
those  who  have  founded  states,  or  restored  those  which  were 
decayed,  who  have  caused  a  new  social  life  to  bloom  forth 
amidst  ruins;  as  also  those  who  have  been  founders  of  religion, 
or  religious  reformers,  and  have  produced  new  organization  in 
the  domain  of  religion.  Only  in  these  territories  can  there  be 
exercised  those  all-embracing  influences  which  penetrate  all 
classes  and  circles  of  society. 

If  we,  then,  retain  the  idea  of  the  founding  and  moulding 
of  society  as  the  characteristic  mark  of  great  men,  there  is 
here  certainly  a  formal  resemblance  to  Christ.  But  if  we 
go  into  a  real  comparison,  the  essential  dissimilarity  appears. 
The  great  men  of  history  are,  for  instance,  under  this  limita- 
tion, that  their  influence  is  confined  to  a  single  nation,  or  at 
most  to  a  single  portion  of  humanity,  to  an  mdividual  genera- 
tion, which  is  essentially  their  work. 

No  founder  of  religion,  with  the  exception  of  Christ,  has 
established  a  world-wide  religion.  In  Christ,  on  the  other 
hand,  we  behold  an  individual  man  who,  in  his  personality, 
has  a  power,  whose  influences  extend  over  all  races  of  people, 
under  every  clime  of  heaven,  throughout  all  ages.  He  does 
not  enter  into  relation  with  a  single  portion  of  humanity, 
but  with  the  entire  race,  as  not  in  a  merely  relative  sense,  but 
absolutely  as  the  Giver,  —  as  he  by  his  religion  has  bestowed, 
not  on  a  sino-le  "feneration,  but  on  the  whole  world,  a  new 
form ;  has  established  a  new  development  of  the  world,  a 
new  course  of  the  world,  a  new  humanity  extending  through- 
out the  range  of  centuries.  On  him  we  cannot  bestow  the 
appellation  "the  great  man."  To  him  we  can  only  apply 
the  words  of  the;  angel  spoken  to  Mary,  "  He  shall  be  called 
great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the  Most  High." 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  563 

But  the  dissimilarity  is  still  more  apparent  when  we 
contemplate  Christ's  work  according  to  its  principle,  aim, 
and  means.  Every  one  who  acknowledges  the  principle  of 
causality  must,  from  the  vast  world-determining  influences 
which  have  issued,  and  still  continue  to  issue,  from  Christ, 
and  with  which  no  other  historic  influence  can  be  compared, 
infer  power  which  infinitely  exceeds  all  others.  But  if  we 
inquire  concerning  the  essence  of  this  power,  of  the  principle 
of  Christ's  all-powerful  influence,  we  can  only  name  the  world- 
emancipating  and  world-redeeming  liberty  and  love. 

Christ's  historic  greatness  indicates  an  inward  holy  great- 
ness in  his  personality,  through  which  he  is  infinitely  distin- 
guished, not  merely  from  all  who  have  exerted  influences  on 
the  history  of  the  world,  but  also  from  all  who  have  aspired 
after  personal  perfection.  The  aim  which  he  proposed  to 
himself  and  carried  through  was  to  redeem  not  only  his  own 
nation,  but  the  world,  from  the  dominion  of  sin,  and  by  his 
life  to  leave  behind  to  latest  generations  an  example  for 
Imitation,  —  in  fine,  to  found  God's  kingdom  upon  earth,  — 
an  aim  which  none  of  the  great  men  have  ever  proposed  to 
themselves,  the  necessity  of  which  few  among  them  have  felt, 
and  which  not  one  individual  of  their  number  has  been  able 
to  accomplish.  Not  one  of  them  has  assumed  the  task  of 
becoming  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  not  one  has  grasped 
the  idea  of  setting  forth  his  own  life  as  an  example  which 
should  remain  universally  valid,  even  to  the  last  generation 
which  shall  inhabit  the  earth. 

The  dissimilarity  in  aim  corresponds  with  the  dissimilarity 
in  the  means.  For  the  means  by  which  Christ  executes  his 
work  lie  not  in  any 'thing  external  to  himself,  but  only  and 
alone  in  his  personality.  Doubtless  from  every  truly  great 
man,  there  proceeds  a  great  personal  influence.  But,  on  the 
one  hand,  the  ethical  is  not  seldom  restrained  by  an  impure 
intermingling  with  the  natural  intellectual  power  of  genius  ; 
on  the  other  hand,  this  personal  influence  only  appears  at  the 
outset  of  their  work,  which  in  course  of  time  develops  itself, 


564  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

or  comes  to  an  end,  independently  0/  their  person.  But  Christ's 
work  is  carried  on  throughout  the  lapse  of  ages,  only  in  this 
manner,  that  not  merely  his  teaching,  but  his  personality,  con- 
tinues to  exert  its  influences  on  the  human  soul. 

As  with  no  other,  there  is  in  Christ  an  indissoluble  connec- 
tion between  his  personality  and  his  work  ;  and  this  connection 
has  from  the  very  first  stood  before  him  in  the  full  clearness 
of  consciousness.  He  desires  to  redeem  the  human  race  to  a 
kingdom  of  sanctified  personalities ;  he  desires  to  destroy  the 
old  abnormal  development  of  the  world,  in  order  to  introduce 
a  new  development ;  he  will  remove  the  world's  centre  of 
gravity,  which  has  been  displaced  by  sin,  and  bring  it  back  to 
its  original  position  in  God. 

But  this  he  can  only  execute  by  himself,  by  his  own  per- 
sonal self-participation  in  it,  or  by  transplanting  his  own 
personal  life  into  the  race.  No  one  can  here  help  him,  or  be 
his  counsellor.  His  work  stands  exclusively  in  his  person, 
and  the  smallest  abnormality  in  his  personal  condition  and 
development  would  destroy  his  work  entirely. 

This  connection  between  the  highest  aim  on  earth  con- 
ceivable—  the  foundinof  of  God's  kino^dom  —  and  his  own 
human  individuality,  in  which  he  stands  as  the  isolated  One 
in  the  human  race,  who  must  himself  create  the  new  commu- 
nity, embracing  all  races  and  all  ages,  the  ideal  which  his 
thought  has  framed,  gives  him  a  greatness  which  surpasses  all 
human  measure.  .  .  . 

Just  because  he  came  to  draw  all  men  unto  himself,  to 
redeem  all  human  talents  and  all  human  will,  to  make  every 
one  perfect,  to  help  him  to  achieve  the  essential  aim  of  life, 
which  is  for  each  to  become  a  ma7i :  just  on  this  account  must 
he  come  to  us,  not  as  an  individual  man,  in  this  or  that  special 
endowment,  this  or  that  special  vocation,  but  as  the  viafi,  as 
the  point  of  union  of  all  human  talents  and  all  human  wills; 
just  on  this  account,  although  he  appears  in  a  particular  cen- 
tury, and  among  a  single  people,  his  whole  revelation  bears 
the  stamp  of  eternity,  and  is  fitted  to  impress  on  all  times  and 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  565 

all  races  the  universal-human  and  the  closest  brotherhood, 
and  must  awaken  an  echo  in  every  human  breast,  be  it  man 
or  woman,  which  is  not  closed  by  sin  against  him  who  cometh 
to  his  own. 

The  words  of  Pilate :  Ecce  Homo !  Behold  the  man ! 
receive  here  their  true  and  just  significance.  And  this  is 
the  marvel,  that  he,  as  the  universal  man,  does  not  make  the 
impression  of  the  abstract,  uniform,  and  colorless,  the  indefi- 
nite and  misty,  but  in  the  Gospels  stands  before  us  in  all 
the  freshness  of  the  most  distinct,  most  strongly  marked 
individuality,  that  this  human  form  of  brightness  shows  itself 
before  us  in  an  infinite  number  of  individual  refractions,  an 
inexhaustible  variety  of  the  finest  individual  traits. 


MATTHEW    SIMPSON. 

[Sermons.     New  York  :  1885.     Pp.  122,  302,  304,  451.] 

The  words  of  great  men  have  frequently  given  to  nations 
or  races  increasing  influence.  What  did  Plato,  Aristotle,  and 
Homer,  for  Greece  ?  What  did  Bacon,  Shakspeare,  and 
Milton,  for  England  ?  The  example  and  teaching  of  one 
philosopher  may  elevate  many.  How  many  erring  Greeks 
did  Socrates  turn  to  higher  thouo-hts  and  nobler  life  ?  Alex- 
ander,  we  are  told,  so  admired  Homer,  that  he  slept  with  a 
copy  under  his  pillow,  and  Homer's  heroes  inspired  him  with 
bravery  and  daring.  But  if  God  speaks  to  man,  if  from  the 
depth  of  eternity,  and  from  the  height  of  his  glory,  he  utters 
words  not  only  of  wisdom,  but  of  love,  —  if  he  offers  rest 
for  the  weary,  extends  his  arms  to  every  repentant  prodigal, 
and  promises  a  crown  to  every  faithful  ser\'ant,  —  how  power- 
fully must  such  words  affect  the  hearts  and  lives  of  men  ?  .  .  . 

Jesus  showed  how  truly  his  words  were  spirit  and  life. 
The  prophets  had  foretold  his  wonderful  works,  and  their 
prophecies  he  fulfilled.  The  sick,  the  blind,  the  dumb,  the 
deaf,  the  cripple,  the  leper,  the  paralytic,  and  the  demoniac, 


566  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

were  brought  to  him,  and  by  a  word  "  He  healed  them  all." 
Nor  were  these  expressions  of  sympathy,  or  manifestations 
of  power,  designed  merely  for  the  friends  of  the  sick  or  dead. 
He  spoke  through  them  to  the  hearts  of  parents,  widows,  and 
sisters,  of  all  lands  and  of  all  ages,  his  sympathy  for  suffering 
men,  and  gave  the  blessed  assurance  that  "  earth  has  no  sor- 
rows which  heaven  cannot  cure."  Think,  also,  how  simple 
were  his  words,  how  apparently  without  any  effort  Divine 
power  accomplished  its  grand  results  !  How  quietly  he  speaks 
to  the  winds,  how  calmly  he  blessed  the  bread !  All  he  did 
was  by  a  word,  a  breath,  and  nothing  more.  There  was  no 
second  trial,  no  experimenting,  but  an  evident  consciousness 
of  exhaustless  power.  .  .  . 

Wherever  Christ  has  been  preached,  all  other  systems  of 
worship  have  passed  away.  How  can  you  account  for  it  ? 
At  the  time  he  appeared,  there  was  a  beautiful  system  of  wor- 
ship in  Greece.  The  Parthenon,  one  of  the  most  splendid 
buildings  man  ever  erected,  crowned  the  Acropolis  of  Athens. 
There  were  statues  of  Jupiter  and  Venus  and  Juno,  Minerva 
and  Diana,  not  only  throughout  Greece,  but  throughout  the 
then  civilized  world.  At  the  altars  hundreds  of  sacrifices 
were  offered.  Men  came  to  wash  away  sins.  They  implored 
these  deities  as  protectors  of  their  town,  their  cities,  their 
families.  In  almost  every  house  there  was  an  altar.  Christ 
began  to  be  preached,  and  under  the  preaching  of  Christ  the 
whole  system  has  passed  away.  To-day  there  is  not  a  man  in 
the  world  who  worships  Jupiter ;  there  is  not  one  who  bows 
the  knee  to  Juno  or  Minerva.  The  people  might  cry  for  two 
hours,  "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians !  "  But  no  man 
now  bows  the  knee  to  Diana ;  no  man  makes  her  images,  or 
sells  her  shrines. 

There  is  idolatry  still  in  the  world,  but  it  is  an  idolatry 
of  ignorance.  Go  into  India,  and  visit  the  temples,  and  take 
the  idols  there,  and  they  are  objects  of  terror  and  aversion. 
Th('r(!  are  idols  in  Africa,  but  they  are  of  rough  stone  or  wood 
—  images  deformed  and  base.      Every  attribute  of  beauty  is 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  567 

stripped  from  idolatry.  All  the  worship  of  art  has  departed 
from  heathen  systems ;  and  to-day  the  art  of  the  world,  the 
statuary  of  the  world,  the  architecture  of  the  world,  gather 
about  Christianity.  The  pictures  in  your  homes  are  the  Ma- 
donna and  the  Infant  Child,  or  Faith  and  Hope  and  Charity. 
Mankind  recognize  these.  No  one  wants  the  forms  of 
heathenism ;  but  the  pure,  inspiring  truths  of  Christianity 
have  come  to  us.  And  how  is  it,  I  ask,  that  the  thought  of 
Christ  has  swept  away  all  other  thoughts,  if  Christ  be  not 
divine  ?  .  .  . 

The  thought  of  Christ  is  the  inspiration  of  literature. 
There  are  unbelievers  among  us;  and  they  sometimes  assume 
a  lofty  importance,  and  try  to  look  down  on  Christians. 
These  very  unbelievers  have  any  importance,  because  they 
are  the  children  of  Christian  mothers.  They  learn  the  name 
of  Christ  in  infancy,  and  grow  under  Christian  civilization, 
wear  Christian  clothes,  eat  Christian  food,  breathe  Christian 
air,  read  Christian  books,  travel  Christian  railroads,  and  get 
their  thoughts  by  Christian  telegraphs.  They  are  living  on 
Christianity,  growing  by  Christianity,  and  yet  they  Xxy  to 
deride  Christianity.  If  Christianity  be  untrue,  let  these  men 
go  where  the  truth  is,  build  up  a  civilization  without  Christ, 
and  then  Xxy^  if  they  can,  to  construct  a  society.  .  .  . 

Paul  wrote,  and  Paul's  writings  remain  :  his  words  were 
of  Jesus  and  the  Church ;  and  as  he  connected  himself  with 
these  orreat  themes,  the  words  live  on.  Paul  was  a  student 
of  Gamaliel.  Where  are  Gamaliel's  words?  And  if  Paul 
had  taken  Gamaliel's  seat,  if  he  had  been  chief  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  had  been  looked  up  to  by  every  one  throughout 
Palestine,  and  had  written,  his  writings  would  have  perished 
too  ;  but  he  wrote  of  Jesus,  and  his  writings  live. 

Peter  might  have  gathered  fish  on  the  Sea  of  Galilee  ; 
he  mieht  have  amassed  wealth  ;  a  bold  man,  he  might  have 
been  their  leader ;  he  might  have  delivered  stirring  orations, 
and  inspired  his  people  to  deeds  of  daring :  but  his  words 
would  have  been  unknown  in  the  ages.     He  wrote  to  sundry 


568  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

strangers  scattered  throughout  Pontus  and  Bithynia,  and  every 
word  remains. 

John  might  have  been  considered  amiable,  kind,  even 
brilhant  possibly ;  but  it  was  because  that  he  laid  his  head  on 
Jesus'  bosom,  that  we  see  in  him  loveliness.  It  was  because 
he  wrote  visions  of  Jesus,  that  the  visions  have  not  faded 
away.  John  connected  himself  with  Christ ;  and  he  lives  on, 
and  lives  forever. 


JOHN    CAIRD. 

[Sermons.     Edinburgh  and  London:  1885.     Pp.  104-107,  113.] 

In  the  moral  beauty  of  his  character  and  life,  does  Jesus 
Christ  declare  or  manifest  the  unseen  God.  God  is  mirrored 
in  the  moral  being  of  Christ.  In  that  pure  and  lofty  nature 
there  was  exhibited  an  image  or  likeness  of  the  holy  and 
spiritual  God,  such  as  the  world  before  had  never  witnessed. 
Of  all  God's  works,  the  soul  of  man  is  that  by  which  he  can 
best  be  manifested  ;  by  its  structure  it  is  the  most  transparent 
medium  of  the  Divine.  There  is,  indeed,  much  in  God  which 
humanity,  even  in  its  purest  and  loftiest  type,  is  inadequate 
to  represent.  There  is  much  in  a  great  painting  which  the 
engraving  taken  from  it  fails  to  convey  to  the  eye ;  for,  though 
it  may  be  an  accurate  representation  of  the  drawing,  it  tells 
nothing  of  the  beauty  and  harmony  of  color  in  the  original. 
There  is  much  in  the  glorious  landscape,  or  the  living  ani- 
mated countenance,  which  the  sun-picture,  however  correct 
up  to  its  measure,  leaves  unexpressed  ;  lines,  form,  contour, 
relative  proportions,  may  be  accurately  rendered,  but  the 
color,  the  expression,  the  variety,  the  life,  cannot  be  arrested 
and  reproduced,  even  by  the  limner  power  of  light. 

So  there  is  that  in  the  nature  of  the  infinite  God  which 
no  copy  graven  on  a  finite  soul,  however  noble,  no  reflection 
caught  and  fixed  on  the  page  of  a  human  life,  however  holy 
and  beautiful,  can,  in  the  very  nature  of  things,  fully  render. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  569 

Yet,  though  the  finite  can  never  be  an  exhaustive  represen- 
tation of  the  infinite,  —  of  all  finite  manifestations  of  God,  a 
perfect  soul,  a  pure  and  holy  mind,  would  be  the  noblest  and 
the  best. 

God  can  be  imaged  in  a  great  and  holy  life,  as  he  cannot 
be  by  the  grandest  objects  which  the  material  universe  con- 
tains. For,  of  a  spirit,  a  spiritual  being  alone  can  be  the  true 
portraiture.  Matter  can  be  moulded  into  the  likeness  of 
matter ;  mental  and  moral  glory  can  be  reflected  and  repre- 
sented only  by  a  mind.  There  may  be  something  of  God 
discoverable  in  "  the  light  of  setting  suns,  and  the  round 
ocean,  and  the  living  air,  and  the  blue  sky ;  "  but  a  living, 
thinking,  loving  soul  has  in  it  that  which  mute  and  material 
things,  however  noble,  can  never  possess,  —  a  direct  affinity 
with  his  own  spiritual  nature.  Man  alone,  of  all  God's  works 
in  the  universe,  is  made  "  in  his  own  image,  after  his  own 
likeness ;  "  and  therefore,  if  God  would  reveal  himself  to  us, 
the  form  under  which  the  revelation  can  best  be  .given  is  that 
of  a  human  character  and  life. 

But  in  all  ordinary  specimens  of  humanity  the  medium 
has  become  sullied,  dimmed,  distorted,  so  that  the  heavenly 
light  cannot  shine  through  it,  or,  if  at  all,  only  brokenly  and 
fitfully.  Only  once  in  its  history  has  the  world  witnessed  a 
perfect  human  nature,  a  flawless,  stainless,  unmarred  soul. 
Only  once  has  humanity  found  a  medium  through  which,  in 
its  unmingled  brightness  and  beauty,  the  moral  glory  of  God 
might  pour  its  beams.  In  the  profound  wisdom,  in  the  serene 
purity,  in  the  tenderness,  the  forbearance,  the  persevering 
love,  the  combined  magnanimity  and  lowliness,  of  the  fault- 
less life  of  Jesus,  we  "  behold,  as  in  a  glass,  the  glory  of  the 
Lord."  As  we  ponder  the  record  of  his  wondrous  history, 
who  shrank  with  the  recoil  of  infinite  holiness  from  those 
unuttered  thoughts  of  evil  which  only  omniscience  could 
discover,  the  mind  is  borne  upwards  to  him  who,  while  he 
searches  the  hearts  of  the  children  of  men,  yet  is  of  purer 
eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity.     As  we  follow  in  his  mission 


570  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

of  unwearied  beneficence,  that  gentle  compassionate  being  in 
whom  sorrow  ever  found  its  best  consoler,  and  penitence  its 
pure  yet  pitying  friend  ;  as  we  note  how,  wherever  he  came, 
the  cry  of  the  wretched  awaited  him  ;  wherever  he  went,  the 
blessings  of  them  that  were  ready  to  perish  followed  his 
steps ;  how  the  hungry  blessed  him  for  food,  the  homeless 
for  shelter,  the  heavy-laden  for  rest ;  how  one  touch  from  his 
hand,  and  the  frozen  blood  of  the  leper  flowed  with  its  warm 
pulse  of  health  ;  one  word  from  his  lips,  and  the  eyes  of  the 
blind  gleamed  back  their  gratitude  upon  him  ;  how,  too.  far 
deeper  ills  than  these,  the  pangs  of  conscious  guilt,  the  woes 
of  the  troubled  conscience,  the  incurable  wound  of  remorse, 
the  inner  maladies  that  oftenest  baffle  mortal  skill,  found 
ever  in  him  their  most  tender  yet  most  potent  healer ;  and 
finally,  as  we  observe  in  the  agent  of  all  this  wondrous 
working,  a  simplicity,  a  self-forgetfulness,  a  certain  calm 
unobtrusiveness,  that  in  his  mightiest  acts  bespeaks  no  effort 
and  courts  no  observation  or  applause  ;  as  we  witness  all  this 
prodigality  of  goodness  and  majestic  ease  of  power,  does  not 
the  mind  involuntarily  ascend  to  that  Being  whose  name  is 
Almighty  Love  ?  does  not  the  exclamation  rise  spontaneously 
to  the  lips,  "  Surely  God  is  here  !  " 

He  had  nothing  in  common  with  the  spirit  of  the  times 
in  which  he  lived.  His  views,  principles,  motives,  associa- 
tions, object  of  life,  were  not  those  of  his  own  nation,  nor 
of  any  land  or  clime  on  earth  ;  they  were  drawn  from  the 
infinite,  the  eternal.  Nothing  can  be  clearer,  from  the  simple 
narratives  of  the  Gospels,  than  that  to  those  among  whom 
the  earthly  life  of  Jesus  was  spent,  he  was  an  unintelligible 
being;  that  they  could  not  comprehend  him,  however  much 
they  might  be  constrained  to  love  him.  He  moved  among 
a  narrow-minded,  grovelling,  sensual  race,  breathing  a  spirit 
of  ineffable  purity  and  holiness.  Cast  upon  an  age  and 
among  a  people  intensely  selfish,  in  a  state  of  society  where 
the;  conflicting  passions  of  hostile  classes  and  races  surrounded 
him  with  an   atmosphere  of  bigotry  and  contention.  Ids  mind 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  5  7 1 

was  ever  calmly  revolving  designs  of  universal  benevolence, 
of  self-sacrificing  love  to  all  mankind.  And  whilst  his  whole 
life  passed  away,  whilst  every  day,  and  almost  every  hour  of 
it,  in  intercourse  with  those  whose  minds  never  travelled 
beyond  the  petty  circle  of  their  own  national  prejudices  and 
passions,  his  inner  being  was  yet  ever  filled  with  thoughts 
that  wandered  through  eternity,  that  communed  with  invisible 
intelligences,  that  mused  upon  the  affairs  and  destinies  of 
the  universe. 

Oh,  what  depths  there  were  in  that  mighty  spirit  that 
none  could  fathom  !  What  ineffable  joys  and  mysterious 
sorrows,  unintelligible  to  the  beings  with  whom  he  consorted 
as  to  the  veriest  children  !  The  seclusion  of  the  wilderness 
could  not  have  increased  an  isolation  like  this.  He  was 
solitary  amid  crowds.  He  "trod"  the  path  of  life  "alone, 
and  of  the  people  there  was  none  with  him." 


ANDREW    PRESTON    PEABODY. 

[Baccalaureate  Sermons.     Boston:  1S85.     Pp.  268,  270-273.] 

Let  us  first  look  at  the  person  and  character  of  Jesus 
Christ.  For  he  is  his  religion.  It  is  impossible  to  separate 
his  teachings  from  his  life.  In  this  respect  he  stands  alone 
in  all  these  ages.  There  are  other  great  teachers  whose 
words  would  be  worth  as  much  as  they  are,  were  they  anony- 
mous ;  some,  like  Seneca,  whose  words  would  be  of  much 
greater  significance  and  impressiveness,  were  they  not  at 
harsh  variance  with  what  is  known  or  suspected  of  their  char- 
acters. On  the  other  hand,  there  are  good  lives,  which  we 
contemplate  with  love  and  admiration,  yet  which  at  the  best 
teach  us  nothing  new, — generally  deriving  their  lustre  as 
reflected  light  from  Christ,  and  differing  from  him  in  that 
they  reflect  his  light  unevenly ;  that  they  are  models  of  some, 
not  equally  of  all,  virtues  ;  that  they  have   about  them  the 


572  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

birth-marks  of  countr}',  time,  and  circumstance  ;  that  they  are 
not  cosmopolitan  in  such  a  sense  that  they  are  equally 
impressive,  edifying,  and  instructive  to  persons  of  all  ages, 
lands,  and  conditions  ;  and  that  they  are  not  inexhaustible 
and  ever-new  in  their  interest,  and  most  earnestly  and  dili- 
gently perused  by  those  most  familiar  with  them. 

Think  one  moment.  These  four  inartificial  memoirs  of 
Christ  have  been  read  for  nearly  two  thousand  years,  by 
myriads  of  people,  in  public  and  in  private.  We  grow 
familiar  with  their  words.  Thousands  upon  thousands  know 
them  by  heart,  yet  never  read  or  hear  a  portion  of  them 
with  weariness.  They  are  read  through  twice  a  year  in  the 
services  of  some  churches,  as  often  in  many  Christian  families. 
Yet  no  one  says,  "  Lay  them  aside,  and  read  something 
else  in  place  of  them.  Let  us  have  some  other  good  life, 
and  not  the  perpetual  repetition  of  this  which  we  know  well 
enough  already."  That  books  will  last  and  wear  like  these, 
indicates  something  unique  in  the  life  which  they  portray. 
They  alone,  of  all  books,  are  like  the  great  works  of  the  crea- 
tion, like  the  flowers,  and  the  stars,  and  the  glowing  sunsets, 
and  the  sparkling  waters,  which  we  never  behold  to  satiety, 
but  which  are  more  beautiful  to  us  the  lono-er  we  live. 

Consider,  too,  how  he  is  at  once  identified  with,  yet 
detached  from,  his  surroundings,  and  he  could  not  be  the  one 
without  being  the  other  ;  for  those  traits  of  perfect  human- 
ity that  were  in  him  could  have  their  manifestation  only  in 
the  actual  world  in  which  he  moved.  Yet  they  are  to  that 
world  like  the  circumambient  air  about  us,  which  is  in  contact 
with  every  being  and  substance,  while  never  yielding  up  its 
specific  properties,  —  with  and  in  all,  yet  its  identity  un- 
changed. Though  among  Jews,  he  is  no  more  a  Jew  than 
had  he  lived  in  Arabia.  We  never  feel  that  the  peculiarities, 
much  less  the  prejudices,  frailties,  or  follies,  of  his  age  and 
people,  cleave  to  him,  or  dim  his  lustre  as  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness for  our  whole  race  ;  or  make  his  example  any  the 
less  the  c)nosurc  for  those  of  all  nations,  for  man  so  long  as 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  573 

he  shall  Hve  upon  the  earth,  for  man  so  long  as  he  shall  live 
with  God  in  heaven. 

This  character  which  grows  upon  us  whenever  we  attempt 
to  define  it,  so  that  in  no  other  office  do  words  so  utterly  fail 
to  overtake  thought  and  feeling,  is  the  essence  of  Christianity, 
—  at  once  its  body  and  its  soul.  It  has  been,  beyond  a 
question,  the  greatest  force  in  human  history.  Its  influence 
has,  from  its  first  appearance  among  men,  culminated  without 
decline.  It  has  formed  the  best  and  most  noble  minds  and 
souls  of  each  succeeding  age,  those  most  loved  and  honored 
of  their  race  ;  and  they  who  have  won  the  crown  of  surpassing 
excellence  have  always  been  the  most  ready  to  cast  down 
their  crowns  before  him,  and  to  cry,  "  Thou  alone  art 
worthy." 

Such  till  now  has  been  the  aspect  which  Jesus  has  borne ; 
such  the  light  in  which  he  still  is  seen.  He  lived  in  an  age, 
in  point  of  knowledge,  of  science,  of  the  humanities,  if  not  of 
the  luxuries  of  civilization,  far  beneath  our  own  ;  in  a  country 
on  which  the  rays  of  classic  culture  shone  only  by  dim  and 
distant  reflection,  and  where  the  refinements  of  the  world's 
great  capitals  had  hardly  modified  the  simpler  manners  and 
habits  of  provincial  life. 

We  have  his  picture  painted  for  us  by  men  of  scanty 
education,  of  a  narrow  range  of  thought,  and  of  obscure  social 
position.  It  may  have  been  no  marvel  if  they  accounted  him 
great.     But  they  do  not  say  so. 

They  waste  no  words  in  panegyTic.  They  give  us  a  plain, 
unambitious  narrative  of  what  they  heard  and  saw ;  a  story 
so  simple  that  we  can  account  for  its  unemotional,  prosaic 
style  only  by  its  literal  truth,  —  by  their  having  been  so  inti- 
mately familiar  with  the  wondrous  life  that  it  had  ceased  to 
surprise  them,  just  as  dwellers  in  Alpine  regions  might  write 
coolly  and  calmly  about  "  signs  and  wonders  of  the  elements," 
of  which  the  very  thought  stirs  our  pulses  to  a  quicker  throb. 
We  have  Jesus  as  he  appeared  always  to  their  upturned  view. 

The  ages  have  piled   up  vast  masses  of  intelligence  and 


574  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

erudition,  of  proud  names,  great  examples,  glorious  achieve- 
ments. We  stand  on  the  mountain  :  they  were  on  the  plain, 
far,  very  far  below.  We  from  our  eminence  look  down  on  all 
that  the  intervening  ages  have  brought  forth.  To  him  alone 
must  we  look  up.  He  holds  in  our  time  the  same  moral, 
spiritual  pre-eminence  in  which  he  was  beheld  by  the  humble 
fishermen  of  Galilee.  The  same  yesterday,  to-day ;  how 
can  we  fail  to  add,  "  and  forever"  ? 


ARTHUR    BROOKS. 


[The  Life  of  Christ  in  the  World.    Sermons.     New  York:  1887.    Pp.  31-40, 

140-144.] 

Christ,  as  the  Gospels  represent  him,  is  at  the  centre 
of  human  life.  It  is  useless,  it  is  vain,  to  leave  any  point  of 
human  life,  and  to  go  to  another,  in  hopes  of  getting  nearer 
to  him  ;  for  straight  from  him  to  every  point  there  is  a  direct 
line,  down  which  the  ready  soul  may  look,  up  which  the  ready 
saving  power  will  move. 

The  power  of  living  thoughts  and  words  is  greater  in 
the  world  to-day  than  ever  before.  The  changes  of  circum- 
stances, through  which  the  world  has  passed  so  rapidly  since 
Christ  came,  have  made  the  material  surroundings  and  actions 
of  past  ages  almost  unimaginable  to  us.  And  yet  from  those 
ages,  both  in  religious  and  in  secular  history,  the  words  of 
great  men  live  among  us  with  all  the  power  of  their  original 
utterance.  There  is  a  supernatural  power  to  words,  that  is 
strangely  pervasive.  They  pass  from  age  to  age,  and  from 
country  to  country.  They  know  no  limits  of  climate  or  of 
race ;  the  human  heart  recognizes  their  power,  no  matter 
where  it  beats,  or  how  it  is  clothed. 

The  religion  of  Christ,  intended  for  all  times,  received 
its  most  potent  earthly  instrument  in  the  spoken  words  of  its 
Founder;  ])y  lliose  it  was  sure  of  perpetuity  and  of  diffusion. 
Going  into  times  when  miracles  had  ceased,  and  visions  were 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  575 

treated  as  the  vagaries  of  a  disordered  brain,  they  would  carry 
that  which  all  men  would  appreciate  ;  they  would  be  the  gate 
of  approach  to  a  deeper  study,  a  fuller  comprehension,  and  a 
maturer  faith  in  the  great  Master.  The  embodiment  of  his 
power  in  his  words  was  a  prophetic  look  by  Christ  into  the 
times  to  come.  Institutions  would  change  ;  temples  would 
decay ;  the  very  face  of  nature  would  not  remain  the  same. 

The  living  thing  from  those  days,  sent  forward  into  the 
times  of  universal  literature  which  were  to  come,  was  to  be 
the  words  of  Christ.  They  would  not  be  bound  to  the  soil, 
accessible  to  a  few  travellers  alone ;  they  would  not  be 
wrapped  up  in  antiquities,  known  only  to  scholars.  They 
would  be  carried  into  connection  with  individual  lives ;  they 
could  be  treasured  in  the  homes  and  the  hearts  of  every  man 
and  of  every  class.  Still  more,  to  exalt  the  function  of  words, 
was  to  give  value  and  currency  to  a  universal  coin  in  which 
every  man's  purse  abounded  :  it  was  to  make  the  possibility  of 
following  in  the  line  of  the  Master's  work  the  possession 
of  every  man  to  whom  breath  had  been  given.  It  stamped 
Christianity  as  the  gospel  of  humanity,  calling  out  the  pov.er, 
and  intensifying  the  responsibility,  of  every  human  soul. 

Despite  the  material  researches  and  speculations  of  these 
times,  they  are  times  in  which  spiritual  force,  as  it  passes  from 
age  to  age,  and  from  country  to  country,  is  more  evident 
than  ever  before.  The  orrowth  of  mutual  intercourse,  and 
the  progress  of  learning,  have  given  the  spiritual  power  in 
man  an  audience  which  knows  no  limits  of  time  or  space. 
Amid  all  these  voices  which  come  to  us  from  every  side,  the 
words  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth  are  more  prominent  than  ever. 
The  expression  of  a  band  of  Jewish  officers,  with  their  proba- 
bly slight  acquaintance  with  literature  or  orators,  was  merely 
a  strong  statement :  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  To- 
day it  has  a  literal  meaning.  No  words  have  touched  so 
many  hearts  ;  none  have  appeared  so  wonderful  in  their  sim- 
plicity and  their  depth  ;  none  have  been  found  to  be  so  free 
from  petty  prejudice,  and  so  tender  of  every  feeling  ot  the 


576  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

human  heart ;  none  have  stood,  as  they  have,  the  ever- 
renewed  comparison  with  each  successive  generation  of  writ- 
ers ;  none  have  been  able  to  endure  so  calmly  amidst  all 
misinterpretations  alike  of  enemies  and  of  friends  ;  none 
have  revealed  such  new  resources  of  meaning,  as  new  emer- 
gencies have  driven  men  to  them  for  help.  These  are  facts 
which  each  new  race  of  critics  makes  stronger ;  they  are 
facts  which,  in  their  historical  reality,  appeal  to  men  living  in  a 
world  of  realities,  which,  in  their  spiritual  signifiance,  speak 
to  the  richest  sensibilities  of  the  human  soul. 

The  words  of  Christ  are  a  test  of  earnestness.  Does  a 
man  want  the  best  in  life,  the  most  thoroughly  tested  sources 
of  wisdom,  the  words  which  all,  from  different  points  of  view, 
unite  in  praising?  then  he  must  make  himself  acquainted  with 
the  words  of  Jesus  ;  he  must  study  them  more  thoroughly 
than  any  others  ;  he  must  never  let  them  go  until  he  has 
an  understanding  of  their  wonderful  power.  No  sneer  at  a 
book  reliofion,  no  indignation  at  the  inferences  which  others 
have  drawn  from  those  words,  absolve  from  that  duty.  In 
the  midst  of  the  Qfreatest  confusion  of  mind,  or  difficulties  of 
soul,  here  is  an  ultimate  duty  on  which  a  man  can  rest ;  one 
which  comes  to  him  indorsed  by  all  the  best  analogies  of  life, 
and  authority  of  experience.  When  the  history  seems  tradi- 
tional, and  the  doctrine  enigmatical,  still  the  clearness  of  that 
from  Christ's  own  words  stands  forth. 

If  the  field  is  narrowed,  what  remains  becomes  all  the 
more  wonderful  and  imperative.  Lives  which  have  been 
severed  in  other  sympathies  can  meet  there,  and,  under  the 
leadership  of  the  one  Master,  strive  to  find  the  way  together 
into  the  perfect  light.  To-day,  more  than  ever,  the  words 
of  Christ  ought  to  be  in  the  hands  and  the  minds  and  the 
hearts  of  all  men.  .  .   . 

What  Christ  said  at  the  well  near  Samaria  may  be  said 
alike  of  all  systems  of  religion  with  prescribed  duties  and 
ceremonies,  of  all  codes  of  action  which  the  successive  Chris- 
tian generations  have  laid  down,  of  all  expedients  of  organi- 


rO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  577 

zation  and  reformation  in  civil  and  social  life  which  are  offered 
to  the  ills  of  suffering  humanity:  "Whosoever  drinketh  of 
this  water  shall  thirst  again."  Over  and  over  again  the  pro- 
cesses of  such  systems  will  have  to  be  repeated. 

We  need  say  no  more  to  rebuke  or  to  check  them  than 
Christ  would  have  said  to  those  Samaritans  to  prevent  them 
from  coming  to  that  well  with  their  buckets  for  the  water 
which  would  supply  and  refresh  all  their  daily  life.  But,  like 
him,  we  can  add  of  him  and  of  his  truth,  "  Whosoever  drink- 
eth of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but 
the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  He  is  a  spring  of  moral 
power  that  never  fails.  If  men  leave  him,  if  his  words  are 
neglected,  it  is  because  the  sources  of  life  are  not  wanted  ; 
because  temporary  expedients  are  overvalued  ;  because  the 
present,  with  its  methods,  occupies  the  whole  range  of  vision  ; 
because  we  are  back  with  the  Jews  of  the  first  century,  and 
do  not  stand  with  the  Christ  of  every  century.  One  word  of 
his,  lifting  the  whole  range  of  duty,  placing  each  man  in  the 
presence  of  God  his  Father,  rightly  heard  with  willing  heart, 
must  make  men  exclaim,  "  Never  man  spake  like  this  man." 

Jesus  is  always  falling  short  of  men's  ideals.  There  arose 
the  ideal  of  the  ascetic  :  that  was  the  holiest,  the  best,  the 
noblest  life,  to  men's  minds;  and  that  man  whose  life  was 
open  to  all  the  influences  of  his  fellow-men,  that  man  who 
was  reproached  by  the  malicious  distortions  of  his  enemies 
as  a  gluttonous  man  and  a  wine-bibber,  could  no  more  fit  that 
character  than  he  could  that  of  the  sacrificing  priest  of  the 
ancient  temple.  The  time  of  chivalry  and  the  crusades  exalted 
the  warrior;  and  he  who  sent  forth  his  disciples  without 
sword,  and  healed  the  ear  of  Malchus,  was  no  figure  to  \'ie 
with  the  bold  knights  in  their  valorous  reputations,  any  more 
than  the  plain  garments  of  the  humble  Galilcean  could  shine 
beside  the  imposing  vestments  of  Jewish  priests.  Or,  come 
down  to  modern  days,  and  take  the  standard  of  any  class  in 
life  to-day.     The  scientific  thinker  asks  for  facts,  for  analysis, 


578  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

for  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  earth  and  heaven  ;  and 
those  beautiful  parables  and  wonderful  miracles  enter  into  no 
such  detail ;  and  Jesus  in  a  scientific  assembly  to-day  would 
be  as  completely  out  of  place  as  he  would  have  been  beside 
the  high  priest  in  the  Holy  of  holies.  And  the  business,  the 
commercial  ideal  of  life,  does  not  look  for  its  leader  to  him 
who  said,  "  Lend,  hoping  for  nothing  again,"  and  "Take  no 
thought  for  the  morrow,"  any  more  than  priest  and  Levite 
consulted  Christ  as  to  the  best  mode  of  offering  sacrifices. 
Politics  and  society  would  find  it  equally  impossible  to  dis- 
cover their  ideal  in  him  who  originated  no  new  system  of 
government,  and  associated  always  with  the  lowly. 

Men  are  listening  for  the  words  that  shall  help  them  in 
their  lives ;  and  when  they  do  not  hear  it  in  their  religion, 
they  will  look  for  it  elsewhere ;  and  so  men  will  be  more 
attracted  to  their  newspapers  than  to  their  Bibles.  How 
quickly  churches  could  be  filled  if  some  great  authority 
as  to  the  making  of  money  were  expounded,  Sunday  after 
Sunday !  Men,  too,  who  have  had  their  eyes  fastened  on  a 
certain  ideal,  find  it  hard  to  respond  to  the  greatness  of  one 
who  is  deficient  in  that  particular  direction,  just  as  men  who 
had  looked  with  respect  on  priest  and  king,  found  it  hard 
to  acknowledge  the  greatness  of  him  who  came  without  the 
crown  of  either  the  temple  or  the  palace. 

We  need  not  inveigh  against  the  earnestness  of  pursuits 
which  have  erected  such  ideals,  any  more  than  this  writer 
found  it  necessary  to  heap  reproaches  on  the  Jewish  system 
of  priesthood,  because  it  found  no  place  for  Christ  within  it. 
Would  Jesus  lead  the  life  of  the  modern  clergyman  to-day  ? 
is  the  taunt  which,  from  the  outside,  may  be  thrown  at  tlie 
preaching  of  his  Gospel.  Better  than  to  answer  it  by  asking 
whether  he  would  find  it  possible  to  lead  the  life  of  the 
modern  merchant  or  statesman  or  scholar,  —  better  is  it  for  all 
of  us  to  recognize  that  he  would  lead  the  life  of  no  one  of  us. 
It  is  easy  to  make  such  contrasts,  but  there  is  one  great  truth 
behind  them :  no  forms  of  action  which  we  find  it  necessar)-  to 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  579 

observe  could  hold  the  power  of  that  divine  life,  any  more 
than  the  life  of  an  ordinary  Jewish  priest,  God-ordained  as  he 
was,  could  be  the  measure  of  the  life  of  a  Saviour  of  the 
world. 

And  so  we  say  that  we  reach  the  ground  of  the  solution 
which  is  given  to  this  difficulty.  Jesus  was  not  a  priest  of  the 
old  covenant,  because  he  was  the  Mediator  of  a  new  and 
better  covenant ;  he  was  not  a  priest  in  descent  from  Aaron, 
because  he  was  a  priest  forever  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec. 

The  glory  of  Jesus  was  in  his  limitations  ;  the  fact  that  he 
does  not  claim  any  of  these  ideals  of  earthly  greatness  is 
because  he  sets  up  a  greater  ideal,  to  which  they  all  belong. 

He  stands  far  above,  though  never  apart  from,  every 
standard  of  human  attainment.  He  helps  every  one  of  them 
as  he  brings  them  all  into  connection  with  the  very  centre  of 
life.  He  sets  forth  forever  the  truth  that  the  life  of  the  lower 
is  to  be  found  in  the  higher. 


J.    W.    LEE. 


[The  Conservation  of  Spiritual  Force.     From  vol.  v.  of  Christian  Thought. 

New  York :  1887.] 

It  would  be  impossible  to  recount  all  the  institutions, 
books,  civilizations,  laws,  discoveries,  inventions,  homes,  and 
hearts,  into  which  the  force  of  Christ's  life  has,  for  the  past 
nineteen  hundred  years,  been  lifting  itself.  As  the  sun 
expresses  itself  in  the  meadow,  and  lifts  itself  into  the  trees 
of  the  forest,  so  Christ  has  been  embodying  himself  in  the 
institutions,  homes,  and  thoughts  of  men. 

The  scientists  say  all  force  can  be  accounted  for.  When 
force  has  risen  up  at  one  point,  it  has  subsided  at  another ; 
the  amount  rising  up  being  the  exact  equivalent  of  the 
amount  subsiding.  Upon  this  principle  we  are  seeking  to 
account  for  all  this  force,  that,  coming  from  Christ,  has 
expressed  itself  in  the  domestic,  social,  political,  and  ecclesi- 


580  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

astical  institutions  of  men.  More  has  arisen  than  can  be 
computed  by  human  arithmetic,  or  compassed  by  human 
imagination,  or  comprehended  by  human  thought.  Where 
did  it  come  from  ?  Where  did  it  subside  ?  At  what  point  did 
it  disappear,  to  rise  again  in  such  overwhelming  volume  and 
such  sweeping  and  far-reaching  influence  ? 

We  go  back  through  eighteen  hundred  years ;  we  are 
standing  in  Jerusalem.  We  hear  conflicting  reports  of  a 
strange,  daring  young  man.  At  length  he  is  pointed  out  to 
us.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  about  his  appearance.  He 
is  a  Jew ;  he  was  born  among  the  poor  ;  he  is  not  noted  for 
culture ;  he  has  no  social  position  ;  he  has  no  money ;  he 
has  no  political  power  of  prestige  ;  he  has  no  army  at  his 
command ;  he  is  connected  with  no  academy ;  he  is  only 
thirty  years  old.  His  words  are  contained  in  no  books  :  they 
are  simply  in  the  memory  of  his  disciples.  His  own  disciples 
do  not  know  what  to  make  of  him.  Finally  he  is  arrested 
and  tried  and  condemned  and  crucified.  He  dies  bet^veen 
two  thieves,  scorned,  scoffed,  buffeted,  and  friendless.  Keep 
in  mind  the  principle  we  are  considering.  All  force  can  be 
measured.  No  more  force  rises  up  than  subsides.  Action 
and  re-action  are  equal.  We  are  seeking  to  account,  in 
accordance  with  this  principle,  for  the  vast  amount  of  force 
Christ  has  poured  into  the  institutions  of  humanity.  Is  this 
young  man's  life,  seemingly  so  insignificant  and  weak,  the 
exact  equivalent  of  all  the  churches,  schools,  colleges,  arts, 
literature,  homes,  governments,  sacrifice,  heroism,  good  works, 
patience,  love,  and  hope,  that  have,  by  general  consent, 
resulted  from  his  existence  in  the  world  ?  If  so,  was  he  only 
a  man  ? 

Multiply  thirty-three  years  by  poverty,  toil,  contempt, 
sorrow,  and  crucifixion,  and  you  have  one  product.  Multiply 
nineteen  hundred  years  by  millions  of  churches,  schools,  and 
homes ;  by  millions  of  books,  paintings,  and  poems  ;  by 
social  position,  wealth,  and  power  ;  by  success,  triumph,  and 
conquest  ;    by    love,    mercy,    and    truth ;     by   a    hold    upon 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  58 1 

humanity  unequalled,  and  by  an  intluenci:  on  home  and 
thought  unrivalled,  —  and  you  have  another  product.  The 
question  is,  Does  one  of  these  products  seem  to  be  the 
equivalent  of  the  other  ?  Does  not  the  outcome  by  an  infi- 
nite degree  surpass  the  income  ?  Is  not  the  evolution  out 
of  all  proportion  to  the  involution  ?  Is  there  not  much  more 
power,  seemingly,  on  this  side  of  the  cross,  than  there  was 
on  the  other  ?  Manifestly  and  clearly,  Christ's  life  and  work 
cannot  be  accounted  for  by  the  principle  of  the  correlation 
of  forces. 

It  is  impossible  to  account  for  the  life  and  work  of  Christ 
by  the  principles  with  which  physical  force  and  merely  human 
force  and  thought  are  measured.  The  sun  is  the  centre 
of  the  system  of  nature,  —  a  system  designed  to  end,  a  system 
the  centre  of  which  is  gradually  losing  itself,  to  find  itself  no 
more  forever. 

Christ  is  pouring  his  force  into  the  system  of  which  he  is 
the  centre ;  but  by  such  a  process  he  is  not  losing  his  force, 
but  increasing  it.  By  losing  himself  he  finds  himself.  The 
universal  law  of  the  system  of  which  he  is  the  centre,  is 
the  law  of  communion.  The  force  he  gives  away  comes 
back  to  him  augmented  by  the  personalit}^  of  all  who  partake 
of  it.  Instead  of  becoming  poorer  by  giving,  he  becomes 
richer. 


EDWARD    W.    BLYDEN. 

[Christianity,  Islam,  and  the  Negro  Race.    London  :  1S87.     Pp.  134,  177, 197.] 

The  germs  of  all  the  sciences,  and  of  the  two  great  reli- 
gions now  professed  by  the  most  enlightened  races,  were 
fostered  in  Africa.  Science,  in  its  latest  wonders,  has  nothing 
to  show  equal  to  some  of  the  wonderful  things  even  now  to 
be  seen  in  Africa.  In  Africa  stands  that  marvellous  architect- 
ural pile  —  the  Great  Pyramid  —  which  has  been  the  admira- 
tion and  despair  of  the  world  for  a  hundred  generations. 
Though  apparently  closely  secluded  from  all  the  rest  of  the 


582  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

world,  Africa  still  lies  at  the  gateway  of  all  the  loftiest  and 
noblest  traditions  of  the  human  race,  —  of  India,  of  Greece, 
of  Rome.  She  interming-les  with  all  the  divine  administra- 
tions,  and  is  connected,  in  one  way  or  another,  with  some  of 
the  most  famous  names  and  events  in  the  annals  of  time. 

The  great  progenitor  of  the  Hebrew  race,  and  founder 
of  their  religion,  sought  refuge  in  Africa  from  the  ravages  of 
famine.  .  .  .  Jacob  and  his  sons  were  subsequently  saved 
from  extinction  in  the  same  way.  In  Africa,  Moses,  the  great- 
est lawgiver  the  world  has  ever  seen,  was  born  and  educated. 
To  this  land  also  resorted  the  ancient  philosophers  of  Greece 
and  Rome,  to  gaze  upon  its  wonders,  and  gather  inspiration 
from  its  arts  and  sciences.   .  .   . 

If  we  come  down  to  New-Testament  times,  we  find  again 
Africans  and  their  country  appearing  In  honorable  connec- 
tions. When  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  born  in  lowly  circum- 
stances, was  the  persecuted  babe  of  Bethlehem,  Africa 
furnished  the  refuge  for  his  threatened  and  helpless  infancy. 
African  hands  ministered  to  the  comfort  of  Mary  and  Joseph 
while  they  sojourned  as  homeless  and  hunted  strangers  in 
that  land.  In  the  final  hours  of  the  Man  of  sorrows,  when  his 
disciples  had  forsaken  him  and  fled,  and  only  the  tears  of 
sympathizing  women  following  in  the  distance  showed  that 
his  sorrows  touched  any  human  heart ;  when  Asia,  in  the 
person  of  the  Jew,  clamored  for  his  blood,  and  Europe,  in 
the  Roman  soldier,  was  dragging  him  to  execution,  and  after- 
wards nailed  those  sinless  hands  to  the  cross,  and  pierced 
that  sacred  side,  —  what  was  the  part  that  Africa  took  then  ? 

She  furnished  the  man  to  share  the  burden  of  the  cross 
with  the  suffering  Redeemer.  Simon  the  Cyrenian  bore  the 
cross  after  Jesus.  "  Fleecy  locks  and  dark  complexion  "  thus 
enjoyed  a  privilege  and  an  honor,  and  was  invested  with  a 
glory,  in  which  kings  and  potentates,  martyrs  and  confessors, 
in  the  long  roll  of  ages,  would  have  been  proud  to  partici- 
pate.  .  .   . 

One  of  the  chief  hinderances  to  the  progress  of  the  truth 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  583 

in  Airica  has  been  the  constant  desire  to  give  prominence  to 
deductions  made  by  men  from  the  great  facts  of  revelation, 
instead  of  Hfting  up  Christ,  and  beheving  the  words  that  he 
spake  unto  his  disciples  :  "  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all 
men  unto  me  ;  "  "  Learn  of  me,  for  I  am  meek  and  lowly  in 
heart,  and  ye  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls  ;  "  "  Come  unto  me, 
all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  )ou 
rest,"  These  are  the  words  that  bring  light  and  beauty  and 
encouragement  and  strength  to  the  benighted.  Instruct 
them  by  the  simple  teachings  of  Christ,  —  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer.  Instruct  them  by  the 
simple  method  of  Christ.  He  moved  through  the  ordinary 
life  of  men,  and  drew  his  teachings  from  every  thing  he  saw, 
—  the  sower  and  the  seed,  the  field,  the  fishermen,  the  boat, 
the  rain  that  fell,  the  ways  of  the  sheep,  the  vine  and  the 
branches.  Through  all  these  he  taught  his  disciples,  and 
brought  instruction  and  refreshment  to  their  souls,  illustrating 
by  his  surroundings  —  by  the  birds  of  the  air  and  the  lilies 
of  the  field  —  the  tender  care  of  Go*d  the  Father  over  all  his 
children. 

This  is  the  teaching  that  will  save  men  of  all  races  and 
climes,  —  adapted  to  men  in  the  lowest  stages  of  society, 
and  adapted  to  men  in  the  highest  walks  of  life. 


LEONARD    WOOLSEY    BACON. 

[The  Simplicity  that  is  in  Christ.     New  York:  1886.     Pp.  65,  69,  71.] 

You  will  find  in  the  story  of  the  Gospels,  as  others  have 
before  you,  the  traits  of  a  man  of  exceptional  and  wonderful 
endowments  of  intellect,  of  heroic  courage,  of  dauntless 
tenacity  of  principle  and  purpose,  and  of  a  dignity  and  stain- 
less purity  of  character  and  an  impassioned  love  of  righteous- 
ness which  cause  him  to  be  thus  reckoned  incomparable 
among  the  human  race  ;  at  the  same  time,  a  man  of  singular 
humility  and  modest  forgetfulness  of  self,  who,  endowed  with 


584  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

every  faculty  for  great  achievement,  seemed  to  have  escaped 
"  the  last  infirmity  of  noble  minds,"  and  to  be  without  ambition 
to  achieve  any  thing  that  the  world  calls  great ;  who  accom- 
plished no  stroke  of  battle  or  of  state,  put  in  operation  no 
organized  society,  constructed  no  philosophical  or  ethical 
system,  left  no  writing  behind  him,  whom  nevertheless  subse- 
quent ages  and  distant  natigns  and  races  have  crowned  with 
that  honor  which  he  never  sought,  accounting  his  teaching 
the  last  authority  in  ethics,  theology,  and  law,  his  person  to  be 
an  object  worthy  of  the  highest  reverence,  and  the  epoch  of 
his  birth  as  the  golden  milestone  from  which  to  measure  in 
either  direction  the  paths  of  history ;  a  man  who  was  withal 
poor,  despised,  and  a  sufferer,  and  yet  in  poverty  and  suffering 
most  sublime,  and  in  his  malefactor's  death  glorious  beyond 
the  power  of  envy,  prejudice,  and  unbelief  to  behold  undazzled; 
whose  grandeur  of  intellect,  dignity  of  character,  and  religious 
elevation  of  soul,  are  nevertheless  to  men's  eyes  so  outshone 
by  his  attributes  of  love  and  gentleness,  wider  than  the  earth 
and  stronger  than  death;  that  the  former  are  forgotten  in  the 
latter. 

Looking  at  him  as  the  fourfold  picture  of  his  life  revolves 
before  us,  we  find  the  first  impressions  of  admiration  and  love 
which  are  irresistibly  made  upon  our  minds,  confirmed  by  the 
general  suffrage  of  mankind.  You  have  not  forgotten  that 
impressive  consensus  of  testimony  from  men  whose  distinction 
in  history  has  been  the  suspicious  and  incredulous  jealousy 
with  which  they  have  denied  and  contested  every  ascription 
of  honor  to  the  person  of  this  man  Jesus  but  those  which 
are  undeniable  and  incontestable,  —  with  what  singular  una- 
nimity they  agree  in  declaring  him  to  be  the  perfect  tnan,  the 
type  of  an  ideal  humanity,  the  sum  of  every  human  virtue. 
We  are  here  on  ground  so  nearly  uncontested  among  all 
thoughtful  and  serious  readers  of  the  Gospels,  Christian, 
unchristian  and  antichristian,  that  we  may  speak  with  very 
little  hesitation  of  the  symmetry  and  harmony  of  a  perfect 
human   character  as    illustrated    in  Jesus.     And    this    is   the 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  585 

one  thing  that  humanity  beside,  in  all  its  generations,  fails  to 
show  us. 

I  asked  a  studious  artist,  once,  about  the  famous  Belvidere 
torso  of  Hercules,  —  whether  in  all  his  studies  of  living 
models,  chosen  for  their  physical  perfection,  he  had  ever  met 
with  its  counterpart  in  muscular  development ;  and,  as  I 
expected,  he  told  me,  No.  It  was  not  infrequent,  he  said,  to 
find  some  parts  or  members  thus  exceptionally  developed,  — 
as  in  the  right  arm  of  a  smith,  or  the  thighs  of  a  porter,  — 
but  never  the  whole  system  as  in  the  torso.  Besides,  he  said, 
you  see  in  the  torso  the  entire  muscular  system  in  a  state  of 
simultaneous  activity,  which  is  hardly  true  to  nature.  You 
can  hardly  expect  to  find  the  whole  system  in  vigor  at  once. 
The  antagonist  muscles,  as  the  extensors  and  the  flexors,  can 
hardly  be  in  tension  at  the  same  time.  When  one  set  is  con- 
tracted, the  other  set  will  be  relaxed.  We  must  consider  the 
torso  as  the  fragment  of  an  ideal  figure. 

So  we  make  our  allowances  for  the  moral  constitution  of 
human  nature.  Some  qualities  of  humanity  seem  hardly 
compatible  in  the  same  subject ;  and  there  are  what  might  be 
called  antagonist  virtues,  of  which  one  sort  seems  to  be  held 
in  suspense  or  abeyance  when  the  other  is  in  exercise.  We 
pretty  much  give  up  looking  to  find  a  whole  manhood  both 
strong  and  symmetrical,  and  wholly  righteous  in  all  virtuous 
acts,  thoughts,  and  feelings,  at  once.  We  try  to  make  up  such 
a  character  by  combining  in  our  picture  the  highest  qualities 
of  more  than  one ;  and  when  we  have  finished,  the  critics  cry 
out  upon  our  delineation  for  an  impossibility,  not  resembling 
any  real  man  or  woman  that  anybody  knows. 

Now,  the  thine  that  has  moved  the  unanimous  wonder  of 
the  cold-blooded  and  not  too  friendly  critics  whom  I  have 
quoted  to  you,  is  not  so  much  the  prodigious  development  ot 
some  astonishing  quality  in  Jesus,  as  this  blending  of  seeming 
incompatibles  in  a  perfect  manhood.  The  qualities  that  seem 
to  pull  in  opposite  directions  seem  in  his  person  to  find  their 
radiating   centre  and    focus   of  convergence.     Courage    and 


586  TESTIMONY   OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

heroism,  profound  sagacity  of  intuition,  exquisite  sense  of 
right  and  fitness,  are  joined  with  a  lofty  and  severe  justice,  a 
greatness  and  purity  of  soul,  which  mean  and  evil  motives 
dared  not  approach,  or  approaching  found  nothing  in  him. 
And  to  all  these  were  united  in  highest  perfection  the 
eminently  human  virtues,  —  the  virtues  that  characteristically 
belong  to  a  finite,  dependent  being,  such  as  great  humility, 
modesty,  self-denial,  submissiveness  to  authority,  deference  to 
public  ordinance  even  on  questionable  points,  tolerance  of 
personal  wrong  and  injury ;  insomuch  that  the  epithet  which 
has  passed  like  a  surname  into  common  speech  is  this,  "  the 
meek  and  lowly  Jesus."  Joined  with  these  were  a  reverence 
before  God,  a  childlike  trust  in  God,  and  a  habitual  prayer- 
fulness  and  obedience  toward  God,  which  were  like  a  crown 
of  light  on  the  head  of  his  perfect  character,  outshining  all 
his  other  human  virtues,  and  yet  by  its  shining  making  them 
all  the  lovelier. 


JOSEPH    COOK. 

[Boston  Monday  Lectures.    Boston:  1888.    Pp.  50,  51.] 

Have  we  yet  reached  the  highest  fountain-head  in  philoso- 
phy and  ethics  ?  What  should  be  added  to  all  that  is  now 
current  in  the  schools,  to  bring  us  abreast  of  our  opportunity  ? 
More  than  once  on  this  platform  I  have  ventured  an  assertion 
which  is  dear  to  me,  because  lying  close  to  any  religious  life 
I  may  possess,  —  that  human  nature  can  be  understood  only 
when  studied  in  its  one  perfect  example. 

There  has  appeared  on  earth  once,  and  but  once,  a  being 
who  never  committed  sin.  Christ  was  man  at  his  climax.  It 
is  too  late  for  you  to  doubt  that  there  did  appear  in  Palestine 
a  perfect  life  ;  and  I  hold  also  that  the  sinlessness  of  Christ 
forbids  his  possible  classification  with  man.  Lotze  himself  has 
taught  that  God  was  in  Christ  as  in  no  other  soul. 

Looking  now  not  at  all  beyond  the  range  of  mere  ethical 
science,  and  not  speaking  from  the  point  of  view  of  revela- 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  587 

tion,  I  affirm  that  the  soul  of  Christ  must  be  taken  as  a  lesson 
in  the  capacities  of  man,  and  that  our  philosophy  does  not 
reach  the  proper  height  until  it  shows  us  how  we  can  harmon- 
ize all  our  faculties  with  conscience  on  the  plan  on  which  they 
were  harmonized  in  Christ's  soul.  We  have  this  vast  faculty 
in  which  God  dwells,  though  we  do  not  obey  it.  We  must 
ultimately  secure  peace  with  our  own  souls,  if  we  are  to  be 
delivered  from  perdition,  which  comes  from  the  war  of  faculty 
upon  faculty  forever.  There  is  no  possibility  of  peace,  except 
in  the  imitation  of  Christ.  The  human  soul,  with  every  faculty 
at  its  best,  can  be  harmonized  with  itself  only  by  that  imitation. 
In  the  foremost  circles  of  philosophical  and  ethical  inquir- 
ers, the  cry  now  is,  Back  to  Kant !  I  hope  it  will  not  seem 
too  bold,  if,  in  the  name  of  philosophy  and  ethical  science,  I 
seriously  supplement  this  watchword  by  the  cry^  Back  to 
Christ  !  who  was  man  at  his  climax.  I  maintain  that  in 
scholarly  ethics,  and  in  philosophy,  strictly  so  called,  the  time 
has  come  to  proclaim  that  the  Christ-like  is  the  natural,  and 
tnat  nothing  else  can  be. 


THOMAS    DE    WITT    TALMAGE. 

[Around  the  Tea-Table.     New  York :  1S85.     P.  414-] 

There  is  no  warmer  Bible  phrase  than  this:  "Touched 
with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities."  The  Divine  nature  is  so 
vast,  and  the  human  so  small,  that  we  are  apt  to  think  that 
they  do  not  touch  each  other  at  any  point.  We  might  have 
ever  so  many  mishaps,  the  Government  at  Washington  would 
not  hear  of  them  ;  and  there  are  multitudes  in  Britain  whose 
troubles  Victoria  never  knows :  but  there  is  a  Throne  against 
which  strike  our  most  insignificant  perplexities. 

What  touches  us  touches  Christ ;  what  annoys  us  annoys 
Christ;  what  robs  us  robs  Christ.  He  is  the  great  nerve- 
centre  to  which  thrill  all  sensations  which  touch  us  who  are 
his  members. 


588  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

HERMANN    LOTZE. 

[MiCROCOSMUS.     New  York:  1886.     Vol.  ii.  pp.  270-273,  282,  283.] 

Christianity  offered  infinite  stimulus  to  the  understanding 
without  binding  it  down  to  a  narrow  circle  of  thought ;  and 
^  to  the  heart  it  offered  full  as  much.  For,  according  to  Chris- 
tianity, the  sole  truth  and  the  source  of  reality  with  all  its 
laws  was  something  of  which  the  eternal  worth  must  be  felt 
in  order  to  be  known  ;  from  the  reality  thus  known  through 
feeling,  man's  understanding  can  reach  back  to  that  which  is 
divine,  and  can  very  often  conclude  from  it  to  the  divine,  as 
from  the  ground  of  demonstration  to  that  which  is  demon- 
strable. In  this  it  met  the  eternal  longing  of  the  human 
heart,  and  satisfied  it  in  a  fashion  wholly  new.  The  con- 
sciousness of  finiteness  has  always  oppressed  mankind  ;  but 
however  much  moral  contrition  we  may  find  in  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Indians,  however  much  dread  of  self-exaltation  in 
Greek  circumspection,  however  much  fidelity  to  duty  in  Roman 
manhood,  yet  everywhere  this  finiteness  was  felt  to  be  merely 
a  natural  doom  by  which  the  less  is  given  into  the  power  of 
the  greater,  and  its  existence  irrevocably  confined  within 
limits,  whilst  within  these  limits  the  finite  is  destined  to  attain 
by  its  own  strength  its  highest  possible  ideal. 

The  Indian  sought  to  extort  eternal  life  by  frightful  pen- 
ances ;  the  Greek  was  afraid  of  arousing  the  envy  of  the  gods 
by  pride,  but  he  aimed  at  perfecting  himself,  and  it  seemed 
to  him  that  virtue  might  be  taught  as  any  craft  may  be  ;  the 
Roman,  knowing  nothing  of  a  blissful  life  of  the  gods  beyond 
his  own,  went  self-renouncingly  to  death  for  duty's  sake,  — 
an  honest  man  whom  yet  no  god  had  helped  to  be  what  he 
was.  The  characteristic  of  humility  and  submission,  that  is 
lacking  even  in  the  most  mournful  expressions  of  this  sense 
of  finiteness  in  antiquity,  was  brought  for  the  first  time  by 
Christianity  into  the  heart  of  men,  and  with  it  hope  came  too. 
It  was  a  redemption  for  men  to  be  able  to   tell    themselves 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  589 

that  human  strength  is  not  sufficient  for  the  accompHshment 
of  its  own  ideas  ;  hence  from  this  time  mankind  no  longer 
seemed  to  be  an  isolated  species  of  finite  being,  turned  out 
complete  by  the  hand  of  nature,  and  destined  to  reach, 
unaided  by  innate  powers,  definite  goals  of  evolution.  Freed 
from  this  isolation,  giving  himself  up  to  the  current  of  grace, 
which  as  continuous  history  combined  infinite  and  finite,  man 
is  enabled  to  feel  himself  in  community  with  the  eternal 
world,  which  he  must  stand  outside  of  as  lonpf  as  he  desired 
to  be  independent,  or  believed  that  he  must  be  so.  And 
since  the  mere  belonging  to  a  particular  race  was  now  no 
longer  a  source  of  justification  or  condemnation,  —  salvation 
needing  to  be  taken  hold  of  by  the  individual  heart,  which 
must  be  willing  to  lose  its  life  in  order  that  it  might  find  it 
again,  —  there  now  began  to  be  developed  for  the  first  time 
that  personal  consciousness  which  thenceforward,  with  all  its 
problems,  —  freedom  of  the  will  and  predestination,  guilt  and 
responsibility,  resurrection  and  immortality,  —  has  given  a 
totally  different  coloring  to  the  whole  background  of  man's 
mental  life. 

This  momentous  content  has,  indeed,  never  reached  the 
clearness  of  calm  comprehension  in  the  minds  of  all  mankind 
to  whom  it  was  proclaimed  ;  but  even  those  who  tried  to 
resist  it  have  never  been  able  to  get  rid  of  its  influence.  It 
has  remained  the  centre  about  which  the  civilization  of  later 
times  has  always  revolved,  in  hope  or  doubt,  in  assurance  or 
fear,  in  zeal  or  scorn. 

To  him  who  so  regarded  the  eternal  connection  between 
earth  and  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  all  earthly  history  must 
seem  but  a  preparation  for  the  true  life,  not  valueless,  since 
it  aims  at  this  goal,  not  yet  burdened  by  the  tremendous 
seriousness  of  absolute  irrevocability.  Therefore  Christianity- 
proposed  to  the  will  only  such  commands  as  require  perma- 
nent goodness  of  disposition  ;  from  the  ordering  of  human 
affairs  by  ceremonies,  law,  and  government,  it  stood  indefi- 
nitely   far.       It    could    do    without    that    which    the    heathen 


590  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

theocracies  were  compelled  to  demand  ;  since  what  it  asked 
for  God  was  God's,  it  could  give  to  Caesar  that  which  was 
Caesar's.  As  for  it  God  was  not  primarily  revealed  in  nature 
in  the  manifold  forms  of  his  creation,  from  which  the  grounds 
of  reverence  might  be  deduced,  so  life  was  not  primarily  an 
established  order  of  moral  relations  within  which  man  might 
walk  with  a  sense  of  security  along  paths  definitely  marked 
out ;  but  to  man's  inner  life  was  intrusted  the  work  of  gradu- 
ally raising  the  forms  of  society  to  relations  which  were  in 
harmony  with  his  spirit. 

Therefore  the  attitude  of  Christianity  towards  the  external 
conditions  of  mankind  was  not  that  of  a  disturbing  and  sub- 
versive force,  but  it  deprived  evil  of  all  justification  for  its 
permanent  continuance.  It  did  not  forthwith  abolish  the 
slavery  which  it  found  existing,  but  in  summoning  all  men  to 
partake  in  the  kingdom  of  God  it  condemned  it  nevertheless. 
At  first  it  let  polygamy  continue  where  it  existed  ;  but  this 
must  necessarily  disappear  spontaneously  where  the  spirit  of 
Christian  faith  made  itself  felt  in  all  relations  of  life.   .   .   . 

Without  having  been  organized  into  a  church,  Christianity 
would  hardly  have  weathered  the  storms  of  those  times,  and 
could  have  exercised  but  little  of  its  beneficent  influence 
upon  temporal  life.  By  the  help  of  transmitted  culture,  and 
through  the  resources  which  its  authority  enabled  it  to  com- 
mand, the  Church  was  partly  able  to  keep  invading  barbarism 
at  bay,  partly  to  press  forward  itself  and  fill  the  still  darkened 
Northern  countries  with  those  churches,  m'onasteries,  episcopal 
residences,  and  agricultural  settlements  from  which  there 
were  diffused  not  only  the  art  of  husbandry,  but  also  that 
of  gardening  ;  not  only  the  elements  of  knowledge,  but  also 
those  of  technical  crafts,  and  under  the  walls  of  which,  grad- 
ually reviving  trade  held  its  markets  whilst  within  their  gates 
the  sick  and  weary  found  tendance  or  healing. 

Thus,  in  the  early  period  of  the  Middle  Ages,  the  Church 
was  in  many  respects  at  the  head  of  progress  and  of  civiliza- 
tion ;  from  it  proceeded  the  majority  of  such  establishments 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETJI.  59 1 

as  were  of  general  utility  ;  from  it  the  ignorant  sought  teach- 
ing, for  it  alone  possessed  the  treasures  of  transmitted 
learning ;  to  it  alone  could  the  longing  go  for  consolation  and 
for  the  resolution  of  their  doubts,  for  it  alone  had  studied  all 
the  relations  of  human  life,  and  with  active  enthusiasm  com 
bined  the  results  of  its  reflection  into  one  comprehensive 
philosophy;  finally,  it  was  to  the  Church  that  the  oppressed 
appealed  for  help,  for  it  was  the  Church  alone  that,  amidst 
the  general  license  and  the  thirst  for  adventure;  recognized 
and  taught  a  truth  that  was  valid  for  all  men,  and  a  divine 
order  of  things  independent  of  all  human  caprice,  obeying 
these  in  a  life  of  strict  discipline,  and  not  unfrequently  assert- 
ing them  with  courageous  self-sacrifice  in  defending  the 
weakness  of  the  oppressed  against  the  violence  of  the  strong. 


HENRY    WHITNEY    BELLOWS. 

[Sermons.     New  York:  1887.     Pp.  287,  333-3^.] 

"Who  do  men  say  that  I,  the  Son  of  man,  am?"  We 
reply,  The  Church  universal,  all  Christendom,  unite  in  saying 
that  you  are  the  all-sufficient  Saviour,  the  light  of  the  moral 
world,  the  pattern  of  all  graces  and  perfections,  the  only 
perfect  humanity  the  race  has  seen.  They  say  truly  that 
about  you  have  crystallized  the  affections  of  all  the  purest 
saints,  and  the  reverence  of  all  the  devoutest  hearts.  They 
say  that  you  are  nearest  to  God,  and  that  you  stand,  and  will 
stand,  the  blessed  Mediator  between  your  brethren  and  your 
Father  and  theirs.  They  say  that  your  words  remain  true  in 
all  ages,  and  that  your  example  never  grows  antiquated  or 
needless.  They  say  that  in  your  life  and  character  and  spirit 
God  has  revealed  all  that  can  be  considered  necessary  or 
useful  for  men  to  know  concerning  his  moral  purposes  and 
spiritual  affections.  They  say  that  your  insight  into  your 
Father's  will  verifies  Itself  by  all  who  trust  it ;  that  your  guid- 
ance never  misleads  a  faithful  follower,  and  that  ages  on  ages 


592  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

only  add  to  its  significance  and  value.  They  say  that  every 
superstition  and  old  theory  which  sought  to  make  you  great 
according  to  mere  human  standards,  when  it  falls  away,  only 
discloses  higher  claims,  until  your  authority  is  independent 
of  doubtful  testimony  and  of  supports  that  are  adventitious 
or  questionable,  and  stands,  in  its  own  self-evident  weight  and 
worth,  more  immovable  than  the  mountains.   .   .   . 

The  common  faith  believes  that  with  Jesus  Christ  began 
a  new  era  of  hope  and  life  for  humanity,  and  that  it  is  not 
without  reason  that  we  date  our  epoch  from  his  birth.  It 
believes  that  Jesus  Christ  sustained  peculiar,  exceptional, 
indissoluble  relations  with  God,  and  that  his  name,  his  pre- 
cepts, his  life,  his  spirit,  his  death,  are  intimately,  sacredly, 
and  gloriously  connected  with  the  salvation  of  men.  It 
believes  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  and  that  the  Christ  is  the 
name  for  God's  anointed  Son.  I  am  not  talking  of  what  men 
profess  to  believe,  but  only  of  what  they  do  believe.  And 
after  deducting  all  that  is  local,  sectarian,  peculiar,  theologi- 
cal, theoretic^,  ineffective,  I  find  this  common  faith  to  have 
established  itself  in  the  Christian  world,  and  to  be  shared 
by  men  in  general,  irrespective  of  their  churches,  creeds,  or 
even  their  shades  of  character  or  schools  of  thouQ-ht.  I  do 
not  see  a  whit's  difference  in  respect  to  this  article  of  faith 
among  Catholics  and  Protestants,  Trinitarians  and  Unitarians, 
theologians  and  the  common  people.  Of  course  it  is  con- 
nected with  various  theories  of  ontology,  affirmation  of  mira- 
cles or  denial  of  miracles,  assertion  of  Christ's  pre-existence 
or  of  his  natural  birth  ;  of  Jesus  as  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
or  the  outcome  of  original  spiritual  genius ;  with  different 
conceptions  of  revelation  and  inspiration,  different  notions  of 
the  Divine  plan  in  raising  many  spiritual  leaders  in  different 
ages,  or  only  one  :  but  under  all  lies  the  acknowledgment  of 
Christ's  having  established  a  new  and  transcendent  epoch 
in  man's  spiritual  history,  and  of  his  being  himself  the  leading 
factor  in  our  moral  destiny. 

Men  may  differ  about  the  origin,  purpose,  and  intentions 


CHURCH    OF   THE   HOLY   SEPULCHRE. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  593 

of  the  Pyramids ;  but  there  they  are,  and  they  cannot  be  got 
rid  of.  It  is  very  much  so  with  Christ's  place  and  influence 
in  history.  It  is  a  fact.  There  he  is  at  the  entrance  of  modern 
history,  the  creator  and  inspirer  of  a  new  life  for  humanity ; 
a  personage  too  grand,  sacred,  and  influential  to  be  over- 
looked, to  be  overthrown,  to  be  treated  with  any  thing  but 
reverence.  Modern  doubters  or  denials  of  his  miracles  or 
his  supernatural  origin,  men  like  Strauss,  Renan,  Mill,  are 
just  as  much  impressed  with  the  magnitude,  sublimity,  and 
sacredness  of  his  figure,  as  the  most  implicit  believers  in  his 
divine  mission.  Indeed,  in  some  sense  they  are  compelled 
to  magnify  his  personal  genius,  his  sublime  insight,  his  very 
character,  to  account  for  the  hold  he  got  upon  his  time  and 
upon  human  fortunes. 

If  he  was  not  inspired,  sent  supernaturally,  then  he  was 
a  greater  genius  than  Plato,  Aristotle,  Shakspeare ;  for  he 
invented  and  illustrated  truths  that  belong  to  the  highest 
sphere  of  thought  and  experience,  in  a  manner  so  perfect 
that  nineteen  centuries  have  not  been  able,  with  all  our  prog- 
ress, to  add  any  thing  to  the  ideal  man  he  was,  or  to  the 
religious  faith  he  taught  and  personated. 


JULIAN    K.    SMYTH. 

[Footprints  of  the  Saviour.     Boston:  1S86.     Pp.  133,  135.  141.] 

The  sanctity  of  Christ  is  essential  to  Christianity.  Differ- 
ently from  every  other  teacher,  he  places  himself  before  his 
teachings.  It  is  not  merely  a  new  philosophy,  or  code  of 
ethics,  that  he  brings  :  it  is  himself.  His  claim  is  far  greater 
than  that  he  knows  the  truth  and  can  therefore  proclaim  it. 
He  is  more  than  a  teacher  of  it.  He  declares  himself  to  be 
the  perfect  embodiment  of  it.  In  short,  he  is  the  Truth. — 
the  Word  made  flesh  ;  the  Truth  living  and  breathing.  Now, 
every  true  teacher  is  presumably  in  the  effort  to  come  into 
correspondence  with  his  teachings.     But  of  whom,  save  the 


594  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Lord  Jesus  Christ,  could  we  say  that  the  correspondence 
attained  is  so  perfect  and  absolute  as  to  entitle  him  to  declare 
himself  to  be  the  Truth  ?  Socrates  discourses  beautifully  of 
immortality.  What  if  he  had  said  to  those  gathered  about 
him  in  his  cell,  "  I  am  the  Resurrection  and  the  Life  "  ? 

It  is  rightly  claimed  that  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  con- 
tains the  rules  of  the  highest  possible  morality  and  religion. 
But  what  if  the  Saviour  had  simply  appeared  on  that  one 
day,  and  preached  that  sermon  ?  What  if  we  knew  nothing 
of  him  who  sat  on  the  mountain  slope  and  said,  "  Blessed  are 
the  poor  in  spirit "  ?  Truth  in  the  abstract !  Cold  rules  tell- 
ing us  how  we  should  live !  How  long  would  Christianity 
have  lasted  ?  What  power  of  resistance  would  it  have  had 
against  persecution  !  How  far  beyond  a  few  schoolmen,  who 
might  have  studied  them  as  they  studied  the  philosophy 
of  Plato,  would  Christ's  teachings  have  spread  ?  Would  the 
common  people  have  flocked  to  the  academies  to  learn  of  this 
new  religion  ?  And  if  they  had,  would  they  have  been 
affected  by  it,  or  even  understood  it,  in  its  impersonal  form  ? 
Was  it  not  its  personal  quality  which  gave  it  such  power,  — 
the  life  that  had  been  lived  for  them  ;  the  suffering  which  had 
been  endured  for  them  ;  the  death  that  had  included  them  ? 
The  truth  became  clear  and  dear  to  them  just  so  far  as  they 
saw  it  in  him.  .  .   . 

We  realize  how  inadequately  this  word  "sinless"  ex- 
presses the  truth  of  Christ's  sanctity.  It  is  too  negative.  It 
is  nerveless  and  colorless.  Not  to  be  evil,  is  one  thing:  to 
be  genuinely  and  positively  righteous,  is  quite  another  thing. 
Now,  Christ's  life  was  of  all  things  supremely  positive.  Let 
any  one  put  into  his  mouth  such  utterances  as  these :  "  I  am 
not  selfish,"  "  I  am  not  worldly,"  "  I  am  not  evil,"  and  we  feel 
at  once  that  the  whole  conception  of  Christ  is  changed,  if  not 
destroyed. 

But  instead,  what  do  we  find  ?  The  one  truly  positive 
life.  Sinless  ?  Yes.  Blameless  ?  Yes.  Not,  however,  by 
mere  self- repression,  but  by  absolute  holiness. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  595 

SAMUEL    HARRIS. 

[The  Self-Revelation  of  God.     New  York:  1887.     Pp.  142,  523,  527-529.] 

Except  Jesus,  there  is  no  personage  of  antiquity  who  has 
such  a  hold  on  the  interests  of  men  that  so  many  biographies 
and  investigations  of  his  hfe  and  work,  popular  and  scholarly, 
could  be  written  within  a  single  generation,  and  be  eagerly 
read  and  everywhere  discussed.  Before  the  publication  of 
Strauss's  work,  lives  of  Christ  were  scarcely  known.  He  set 
out  to  show  that  the  historical  narrative  of  the  life  of  Jesus  is 
of  no  account,  that  the  whole  sigrnificance  of  his  life  is  in  the 
truth  which  it  expresses.  Instead  of  accomplishing  this,  he 
accomplished  just  the  contrary.  He  concentrated  the  thought 
of  all  Christendom  on  the  study  of  the  story  of  Christ's  life, 
on  the  study  of  Jesus  as  an  historical  personage,  and  of  his 
history,  teaching,  and  influence  among  men.  And  the  result 
is,  that  men  are  seeing,  as  they  never  saw  before,  that  the 
great  evidence  of  Christianity  is  in  Christ  himself,  that  his 
human  life  and  influence  can  be  accounted  for  only  by  admit- 
ting that  he  is  divine.  They  have  also  come  to  understand 
more  fully  than  ever  before  the  profound  and  far-reaching 
significance  of  the  Incarnation,  and  the  peculiar  richness  and 
practical  power  of  the  revelation  of  God  made  in  the  humilia- 
tion of  the  Logos  and  in  the  earthly  life  of  the  Christ.  .  .  . 

God  is  revealed  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  himself, 
redeeming  man  from  sin  to  the  knowledge  of  God  and  to 
union  with  him,  educating  and  developing  him  to  the  realiza- 
tion of  his  ideal  as  set  forth  in  Christ,  pervading  the  world 
with  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  progressively 
transforming  society  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  This  revela- 
tion of  God  is  also  the  highest  possible  revelation  of  the 
capacities  and  possibilities  of  humanity,  of  the  worth  of  man 
and  the  sacredness  of  his  rights,  of  the  obligation  of  all  to 
live  in  the  love  and  service  of  man,  and  of  his  capacity  for 
wise  thouehts  and  ereat  deeds  and  noble  character.     It  is  the 


596  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

revelation  of  man  to  himself  as  really  as  it  is  the  revelation  of 
God  to  man. 

In  Christ  is  the  ideal  of  humanity  in  a  human  person  and 
a  human  life,  the  law  of  love  revealed  in  the  concrete  ;  in  him 
also  is  the  love  of  God  embodied  and  revealed  in  a  living  man 
and  a  human  life.  Here  are  at  once  the  law,  the  motive  and 
inspiration  to  obey  it,  and  the  divine  grace  seeking  man  in  his 
sins  to  inspire  and  quicken,  to  guide  and  strengthen  him  in 
the  way  of  life,  and  the  divine  promise  stimulating  hope  and 
courage,  and  giving  assurance,  to  all  who  seek,  that  they  shall 
find  the  realization  in  themselves  of  the  ideal  of  manhood 
presented  before  them  in  Christ.  It  is  true  that  God  reveals 
himself  in  humanity.  But  this  revelation  can  never  be  com- 
plete, for  the  history  of  humanity  will  never  be  completed. 

In  Christ,  the  ideal  man,  the  whole  contents  of  that  reve- 
lation of  God  in  humanity  are  summed  up  in  brief.  He  is 
the  ideal  of  man  in  union  with  God,  and  the  recipient  of  his 
spirit  and  grace.  He  is  the  ideal  of  man  in  the  perfection  of 
his  being:  "When  he  shall  appear,  we  shall  be  like  him." 
He  is  the  ideal  man,  loving  all  with  a  divine  love,  coming  not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister,  taking  the  form  of  a 
servant,  and  spending  his  energies  working  with  the  Father 
to  save  from  sin,  to  develop  him  to  his  true  manhood  in  the 
likeness  of  God,  and  to  build  human  society  into  a  kingdom 
of  righteousness  and  good-will.  He  is  the  ideal  man  in  his 
subjection  to  privation,  suffering,  and  death,  in  his  conflict 
with  sin,  his  triumph  over  all  the  powers  of  evil,  and  his 
ascension  glorified  to  the  life  immortal. 

In  Handel's  "  Messiah,"  poetry  and  music  combine  to  give 
expression  to  the  significance  of  this  revelation  of  God  in 
Christ,  and  of  this  revelation  in  Christ  of  what  humanity  is 
and  is  to  be.  "  He  sliall  reign  for  ever  and  ever."  Neither 
music  nor  poetry,  neither  philosophy  nor  religion,  neither  law 
nor  gospel,  can  transcend  this.  It  is  the  highest  consumma- 
tion of  thought,  feeling,  and  life  ;  it  is  the  union  of  the  human 
with  the  divine.      In  worshipping  God  in   Christ,  we  worship 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  597 

him  in  humanity.  The  Christian  has  in  Christ  and  God's  re- 
demption of  man  real  ground  for  reverence  for  humanity,  not 
to  be  compared  with  any  possible  reverence  for  the  fiction 
which  the  Positivists  worship. 

It  is  the  Christ  alone  who  reveals  the  true  significance  of 
humanity  and  its  highest  possibilities  and  noblest  destiny. 
And  through  him  come  the  spiritual  agencies  and  motives 
which  quicken  men  to  the  new  spiritual  life,  and  bring  them 
to  concentrate  their  energies  on  the  service  of  God  and  man 
in  the  life  of  universal  love.  He  meets  all  man's  spiritual 
needs  by  bringing  him  to  union  with  God  in  the  life  of  faith 
and  love,  and  to  reconciliation,  communion,  and  peace  with 
God.  He  reveals  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth  and  in 
heaven  as  the  realization  of  the  perfect  unity  and  community 
of  men,  and  of  the  highest  possibilities  of  humanity. 

And  in  this  he  reveals  the  true  worth  and  dignity  of  man, 
the  sacredness  of  both  his  obligations  and  his  rights,  the 
brotherhood  of  men  as  the  children  of  God  and  redeemed 
through  Christ,  the  common  Saviour,  and  all  those  great  ideas 
which  have  guided  and  inspired  the  true  political  and  social 
progress  of  man  in  modern  times.  Christianity,  and  it  alone, 
takes  up  the  whole  man,  spiritual  and  natural,  and  the  whole 
sphere  of  his  action,  individual  and  social,  all  his  interests  and 
possibilities,  science  and  industrial  invention,  morality  and 
economics,  literature  and  aesthetic  art,  work  and  play,  politics 
and  business  ;  it  takes  them  up  with  spiritual  light  and  love 
and  power  adequate  to  quicken,  inspire,  and  guide  the  prog- 
ress of  the  individual  and  of  society  toward  the  realization  of 
the  ideal  perfection  of  humanity. 

Thus  the  historical  action  of  God  in  Christ  is  the  basis  of 
the  only  true  and  complete  philosophy  of  human  history. 
Man  and  his  history  and  destiny  can  never  be  understood 
without  recoenizine  his  relation  to  God,  the  fact  of  sin  and 
God's  gracious  action  in  redemption,  and  the  existence  and 
growth  of  God's  kingdom  on  earth.  Christ  is  central  in 
human  history.     On  him  all  the  lines  of  divine  action    and 


598  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

influence  before  his  coming  converge,  and  from  him  all  divine 
action  and  influence  in  redemption  go  forth  into  the  subse- 
quent life  and  history  of  man.  Christianity  lives  in  the  his- 
tory of  man,  its  roots  struck  down  into  the  depths  of  the  past, 
and  in  prophecy  and  promise  its  branches  lifting  its  verdure 
and  blossoms  and  fruit  to  all  the  heights  of  the  future,  —  the 
veritable  tree  Ygdrasil,  around  which  the  moral  world  is  built, 
and  on  which  its  stability  depends. 

And  because  the  religion  of  Christ  is  comprehensive  of 
all  spiritual  light  and  life  and  power,  and  is  to  satisfy  the 
spiritual  needs  of  man  in  all  ages,  it  is  tested  by  the  progress 
of  thought  and  civilization  through  all  time.  Christ  challenges 
this  test.  A  god  of  the  Scandinavian  mythology  was  once 
tested  in  various  ways  to  prove  his  power.  Among  other 
trials,  he  was  challenged  to  a  race,  and  was  outrun.  He 
afterwards  learned  that  his  competitor  in  the  race  had  been 
Human  Thought.  In  all  which  pertains  to  man's  moral  and 
spiritual  life,  Christ  has  been  tested  in  the  race  with  human 
thought  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  and  has  been  always  in 
advance.  In  fact,  it  is  much  more  than  this.  He  has  kept 
the  lead,  while,  by  his  spiritual  quickening  of  men,  it  is  he 
himself  who  has  given  to  human  thought  its  power  and  speed. 


JOHN   WILLIAM    COLENSO. 

[Natal  Sermons.     London:  i8S6.     Vol.  i.  p.  315-317 ;  vol.  ii.  p.  325.] 

We  often  say  that  our  Lord's  example  is  to  be  the  guide 
to  us  in  all  the  duties  of  life.  And  so,  indeed,  it  should  be, 
yet  not  in  the  way  that  many  seem  to  suppose,  —  by  his 
having  actually  shared  in  the  performance  of  those  duties, 
and  resisted  the  temptations  more  especially  connected  with 
them.   .   .  . 

Of  his  childhood  and  boyhood  we  know  scarcely  any 
thing  ;  of  his  youth  we  know  nothing.  We  have  very  little 
to  show  us  how  he  acted  as  a  son  or  a  brother ;  we  have  no 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  599 

example  in  his  life  of  a  husband  or  a  parent,  no  exact  pattern 
for  students,  or  men  of  business,  for  artisans,  domestic  ser- 
vants, village  laborers,  for  professional  men,  soldiers,  or 
statesmen.  The  duties  of  middle  later  life  and  of  old  age 
were  not  discharged  by  him  ;  the  lot  of  the  noble,  wealthy,  and 
powerful  was  not  experienced  by  him,  nor  that  of  the  pauper 
in  the  poorhouse,  of  the  prisoner  immersed  for  years  in  the 
dungeon  of  the  oppressor,  or  the  patient  racked  with  pain,  or 
worn  with  lingering  disease,  in  the  wards  of  the  hospital. 

The  example  which  he  has  actually  given  us  in  the  Bible 
is  chiefly  that  of  an  active  ministry  of  almost  three  years 
in  the  prime  of  life,  under  circumstances  which  can  never 
happen  again  in  the  history  of  the  world.  .   .  . 

How  is  it,  then,  that  we  are  able  at  once  to  appeal  to 
Christ's  example  as  the  perfect  model  of  what  human  beings 
ought  to  be,  or  ought  to  do,  under  all  circumstances  ?  It  is 
because  we  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  his  life,  —  to  the  principle 
which  ruled  it,  —  to  that  conformity  to  the  perfect  will  of 
God,  that  desire  to  please  his  heavenly  Father,  that  surrender 
of  his  own  will  to  God's  will,  which  he  manifested  on  all 
occasions. 

And  taught  as  we  are  ourselves  by  the  Divine  word,  enlight- 
ened by  the  Divine  light  which  is  the  light  of  men,  we  are 
able  in  our  own  minds  to  fill  up  that  which  is  wanting  for 
our  actual  guidance  amidst  the  duties  of  life  ;  to  say  to  our- 
selves, in  different  situations,  "  In  this  way  Christ  would  act, 
or  would  have  acted."  We  are  able  to  set  before  us  an  ideal 
Christ,  a  perfect  image  of  the  Divine  Man.  That  image  of 
perfect  beauty  and  holiness  —  of  the  perfect  Man  —  which 
we  thus  by  divine  grace  behold  each  in  our  own  mind,  is  not 
set  before  us  in  full  length  in  the  Gospels,  nor  could  it  possi- 
bly be  ;  no  record  of  his  life  could  have  supplied  minutely  all 
the  details  needed  for  this  purpose,  for  setting  a  mere  copy, 
which  we  are  closely  to  follow  in  all  our  different  relations  of 
life,  even  if  our  Lord  had  actually  entered  into  human  relation- 
ship more  fully  than  he  has  done. 


6oo  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

It  is,  I  repeat,  to  the  spirit  of  his  Hfe,  —  to  the  principle 
which  ruled  it,  —  that  we  must  be  appealing  continually  day 
by  day  and  hour  by  hour,  if  we  would  "  put  on  Christ,"  put 
on  the  Christian  spirit.   .   .   . 

The  example,  then,  of  Christ  is  not  less  available  to  us, 
because  the  details  of  his  life  are  few,  and  leave  many  and 
most  important  points  of  our  lives  without  models  of  conduct. 
Our  following  of  any  model,  to  be  true,  to  be  of  any  worth, 
must  not  be  an  imitation  of  certain  acts,  of  certain  demeanor, 
appropriate  to  this  or  that  situation  or  relation  in  which  as 
human  beings  we  may  be  placed.  .  .   . 

Christ  is  our  great  Example  because  he  came  not  to  do 
his  own  will,  but  the  will  of  the  Father  who  sent  him,  — 
because  he  sought  not  his  own  glory,  but  in  all  that  con- 
cerned him  was  simply  obedient,  leaving  his  cause  in  God's 
hands  ;  because  he  bore  witness  for  the  truth  on  all  occa- 
sions, regardless  of  consequences. 

In  the  life  of  Christ,  slight  as  is  the  sketch  which  we  have 
of  it  in  the  Gospels,  the  leading  idea  is  of  one  who  lived 
wholly  for  others,  to  comfort  and  to  heal ;  above  all,  to  bring 
home  to  God  the  lost  sheep  of  the  flock,  to  waken  penitence 
in  the  sinner,  and  to  assure  the  penitent  of  pardon  and  peace. 
And  if  the  history  in  the  Gospels  of  the  life  of  our  Head  is 
but  a  sketch,  it  is  in  a  measure  filled  up  by  the  lives  of  the 
members  of  the  body  of  Christ,  of  all  his  true  followers  in 
every  age. 

J.    PETER   LESLEY. 

[Shall  We  Call  Him  Master?    The  Forum,  January,  iSSS.     Pp.  492-496.] 

I  SEE  no  incompatibility  of  the  religion  of  Jesus  with 
modern  life,  provided  the  letter  of  his  teaching  be  subordi- 
nated to  its  plainly  expressed  spirit ;  and  that  is  why  I  can 
call  him  Lord  and  Master.  As  a  man  of  science  I  should 
not,  will  not,  dare  not,  "  swear  in  the  words  of  any  master;  " 
but  the  whole  life  of  a  man  of  science  disciplines  him   into  a 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6oi 

positive  and  habitual  worship  of  genius  ;  makes  him  an  enthu- 
siastic admirer  and  imitator  of  the  spirit  of  every  master  in 
science.  Why  not  in  morals?  Why  not  far  more,  infinitely 
more,  in  morals  ?  As  the  conduct  of  life  is  every  way  grander 
than  any  scientific  work  can  possibly  be,  so  the  Sun  of  right- 
eousness must  outshine  the  lesser  luminaries  of  physical 
knowledge.  Therefore  I  recognize  no  incongruity  when 
Keplers  and  Newtons,  a  Linnaeus,  a  Davy,  a  Joseph  Henry, 
or  a  Cuvier,  worship  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ;  or  when  a  Washing- 
ton or  a  Lincoln  confesses  to  the  self-mouldine  of  his  whole 
life  on  the  well-known,  perfecdy  comprehensible  and  compre- 
hended Christian  model.  It  is  then  with  a  sense  of  buoyant 
exaltation  that  I,  as  a  man  whose  whole  life  has  been  devoted 
to  exact  science,  say  that  I  worship  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the 
ideal  man,  and  therefore  King  of  men.  His  reported  words 
are  but  the  locks  of  hair  upon  his  head,  the  folds  in  his  robe. 
His  metaphors  are  merely  the  colors  of  the  spectrum  of  the 
sunshine  of  the  man,  refracted  by  a  Hebrew,  an  oriental, 
prism.     Nor  is  the  word  "worship"  a  whit  too  strong.   .  .   . 

Now,  if  Jesus  stood  for  a  special  theological  reformer,  like 
Luther  or  Mohammed,  or  Gautama,  or  for  a  mere  special  phi- 
losopher, like  Confucius,  it  would  be  out  of  reason  to  worship 
him  as  the  ideal  man,  the  man  of  all  ages  and  races,  the 
image  of  the  realized  perfection  in  human  living,  the  risen 
Sun  of  righteousness,  the  Son  of  God  —  meaning  by  God 
all  that  is  best,  and  by  Son  the  best  personified  in  man.  But 
as  his  character,  so  far  as  we  can  study  it,  exemplifies  and 
enforces  contentment  and  docility  enough  to  suit  the  East, 
practical  energy  and  common  sense  enough  to  suit  the  West, 
heroism  and  self-sacrifice  enough  to  suit  the  Arctic  tribes, 
and  a  flaming  imagination  and  passionate  heart,  and  infinite 
devotion  for  the  unseen  cause  of  all  duty  and  utility,  such 
as  may  satisfy  the  most  tropical  climes,  —  there  is  ample 
reason  for  placing  him  historically  at  the  head  of  the  human 
race ;  nor  can  I  see  how  we  independent  citizens  of  the 
great  republic  can  shake  off  our  spiritual  allegiance  to  him, 


602  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

or  cease  to  love  and  worship  him  as  our  natural  judge  and 
leader.  .  . 

Call  him  what  you  please,  he  was  an  avatar  of  the  God  of 
justice,  love,  and  order ;  and  as  such  I  worship  him.  I  look 
in  vain  to  Benares,  to  Pekin,  to  Mecca,  to  Athens,  or  to  any 
other  nucleus  of  mental  and  moral  activity,  in  past  or  present 
times,  for  such  an  original  and  complete  guide  through  the 
labyrinth  of  practice  and  opinion.  He  speaks  indeed  in 
parables,  but  a  child  can  understand  them.  His  reported 
utterances  are  extravagant,  oriental,  unpractical,  inapplicable, 
impossible,  if  you  will :  but  for  all  that,  they  never  deceive  ; 
they  never  mislead  or  seduce  from  the  noblest  path  a  human 
being  walks.  He  was  a  mystic,  but  sends  no  man  into  dream- 
land. He  was  a  socialist,  but  left  each  human  being  to  apply 
the  principles  of  communism  to  daily  business  according  to 
an  inward  impulse  to  do  all  possible  good,  and  avoid  all 
possible  evil. 

What  is  true  democracy,  what  is  ideal  republicanism,  what 
is  modern  philanthropy,  but  the  flower  and  fruit  of  the  divine 
socialism  of  Jesus  ?  He  preached  meekness  and  content- 
ment ;  but  who  was  ever  bolder,  more  uncompromising,  more 
energetic  ?  Has  Christianity  ever  retarded  the  development 
of  industry,  invention,  or  enterprise  ?  Will  any  one  be  hardy 
enough  to  assert  that  the  ruling  presence  of  Jesus  in  the 
market,  the  exchange,  the  railroad  directors'  room,  the  Masonic 
lodge,  the  workingmen's  association  hall,  the  court  of  justice, 
now,  in  the  nineteenth  century,  would  not  be  as  divinely  bene- 
ficial as  it  was  at  Capernaum  in  the  time  of  Augustus  Caesar  ? 

We  are  makino-  a  new  world.  Some  think  it  cannot  be 
successfully,  or  at  least  properly,  made  on  the  basis  of  the 
religion  of  Jesus.  I  think  it  can.  The  millions  are,  in  fact, 
making  it  upon  that  basis  ;  and  in  the  end  the  millions  do 
what  is  right ;  at  all  events,  the  millions,  while  at  their  work 
of  making  this  new  world,  worship  Jesus.  Therefore  is  his 
name  above  every  name,  —  the  most  precious  legacy  of  time 
to  the  ages. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  603 

ARTHUR   JAMES    MASON. 

[The  Faith  of  the  Gospel.     London:   1S88.     Pp.  157-159.] 

In  the  unity  of  Christ's  person  all  contradiction  was 
reconciled,  and  the  same  things  which  became  him  as  Son  of 
God  became  him  as  Son  of  man  ;  and  the  very  same  line 
of  events  showed  him  throughout  as  the  ideal  representative 
both  of  the  one  nature  and  of  the  other.  This  double  aspect 
of  each  and  all  of  our  Lord's  works  must  never  be  forgotten. 
He  was  not  by  one  series  of  acts  showing  himself  as  Son  of 
God,  and  by  another  as  Son  of  man.  There  was  in  him  no 
alternation  between  two  parts  which  were  to  be  played.  Thus 
we  may,  for  clearness  of  study,  contemplate  his  whole  life  and 
death,  first  as  the  manifestation  of  God  to  man,  and  secondly 
as  the  representation  of  man  to  God.   .  .  . 

To  the  minds  of  the  heathen  in  general,  God  was  no 
better  than  men,  and  would  condemn  himself  if  he  con- 
demned them  ;  or  he  was  indifferent  to  their  actions,  and,  as 
an  early  controversialist  against  Christianity  affirmed,  was  "no 
more  angry  with  men  than  with  apes  or  flies ;  "  or  God  was 
capricious  and  revengeful  and  implacable,  and  the  utmost  that 
could  be  done  was  to  endeavor  to  keep  him  in  good  temper 
with  fair  words  and  frequent  offerings ;  or  perhaps  he 
appeared,  as  in  some  of  the  higher  Gentile  systems,  and  to 
some  amongst  the  Jews,  as  a  sternly  pure  being,  extreme 
to  mark  what  was  done  amiss,  who  might  give  a  happier  lot 
in  another  world  in  exchange  for  ascetic  self-torture  in  this, 
or  for  rigid  observance  of  a  rule  more  exact  than  that  which 
he  had  himself  imposed.  But  in  whichever  way  the  error 
travelled,  mankind  at  large  had  lost  the  true  conception  of 
God  as  a  righteous  Father:  that  is,  as  one  who  must  needs 
be  at  war  with  sin  wherever  sin  was  to  be  found,  but  who  at 
the  same  time  loved  men  with  an  intense  and  personal  affec- 
tion, and  was  therefore  impelled  equally  by  love  and  by  right- 
eousness to  seek  to  deliver  them  from  sin. 


604  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

This  was  the  character  displayed  in  Christ  to  draw  men 
back  to  God.  Prophets  among  the  IsraeHtes  had  striven  to 
portray  such  a  character,  and  more  dimly  moral  philosophers 
among  the  Gentiles  had  set  forth  fragments  of  it. 

But  the  fullest  of  inspired  descriptions  could  not  have  the 
same  effect  as  the  sight  of  an  actual  life  lived  among  men, 
simply  and  necessarily  exhibiting  at  every  turn  the  mind  of 
God.  In  all  the  infinitely  varied  circumstances  of  that  life, 
in  dealing  with  saints  and  in  dealing  with  sinners,  there  was 
one  continuous  manifestation  of  the  Father's  heart ;  so  that 
without  a  touch  of  exaggeration  Christ  could  say,  "  He  that 
hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the  Father."  For,  although  they  did 
not  see  the  Father  in  person,  they  saw  one  who  not  only 
resembled  him  exactly,  so  that  there  was  nothing  in  the  Son 
unlike  that  which  was  in  the  Father,  but  he  whom  they  saw 
was  so  entirely  one  with  the  Father  that  he  could  have  no 
imaginable  being  apart  from  the  Father,  nor  the  Father  apart 
from  him. 


HUGH    MILLER    THOMPSON. 

[The  World  and  the  Kingdom.     New  York:  i88S.     Pp.  62,  97,  ^Z  j-^^.] 

I  HESITATE  not  to  assert,  with  thousands  of  thoughtful 
men,  that  for  the  men  of  his  day,  or  indeed  any  day,  to  have 
imagined  and  wrought  out  the  conception  of  Jesus  Christ, 
would  have  been  a  wonder  more  unexplainable,  more  bewil- 
dering, than  any  miracle  or  all  the  miracles  recorded  in  Old 
Testament  or  New.   .  .  . 

But  how  to  account  for  this  Jesus  of  Bethlehem, — Jesus 
Christ  of  Nazareth  ?  Can  you  account  for  any  ultimate 
germ  ?  Science  is  dumb  on  ultimates  ;  it  traces  up  causes 
from  effects,  link  by  link  of  the  long  chain.  At  last  one  link 
is  reached,  and  beyond  there  is  nothing.  Omne  exit  iii  mys- 
teriiim.  The  last  step  is  into  the  profound.  But  is  the  end 
reached  ?  Are  there  no  causes  and  no  consequences  beyond 
the  touch  of  material  hand  and  the  sight  of  material  eye  ? 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  605 

We  can  account  for  other  men  by  things  upon  the  earth. 
Can  we  account  for  Jesus  Christ?  Is  he  the  product  of  the 
earth,  and  can  we  find  that  out  of  which  he  grew?  Is  he, 
Hke  other  men,  a  development  from  visible  sources?  All 
other  men  are.  In  a  most  true  sense,  every  man  is  a  devel- 
opment. Let  him  be  as  exceptional  as  you  will,  he  is  the 
natural  product  of  natural  causes  upon  which  you  may  lay 
your  finger. 

Plato  is  as  genuine  a  Greek  product  as  the  Parthenon. 
Under  no  other  sky  could  the  one  have  grown,  or  the  other 
been  builded.  .  .  .  William  Shakspeare,  exceptional  as  is  his 
vast  genius,  is  an  Englishman  in  every  fibre, — just  as  natural 
a  product  of  English  soil  and  English  air  as  an  English  oak 
or  an  English  daisy.  There  are  causes  sufficient,  if  not  to 
account  for  his  exceptional  genius,  quite  enough  to  account 
for  the  form  that  genius  took,  for  his  whole  moral  make-up 
and  tendencies,  for  his  character  and  his  influence.  Of  all 
the  lands  on  earth,  we  are  sure  England  alone  could  have 
given  him  birth. 

And  not  only  England,  but  England  at  a  particular  time. 
He  is  a  man  of  his  country,  but  also  a  man  of  his  day :  a 
product  of  his  race,  but  a  product  at  a  particular  point  in  its 
development ;  he  is  an  Elizabethan  Englishman  ;  he  belongs 
where  Spenser,  Bacon,  and  Raleigh  belong ;  he  has  the 
common  stamp  of  the  great  queen  upon  him,  as  they  all 
have.  Before  or  after  there  could  have  been  no  Shakspeare, 
as  there  has  not  been.  .  .  .  You  see  what  I  mean,  and  also 
why  we  naturally,  I  might  almost  say  instinctively,  turn  to 
the  examination  of  the  causes  which  have  produced  any 
special  character,  and  expect  to  find  them.  They  may, 
indeed,  themselves  be  the  germs  of  great  consequences,  the 
original  sources  of  vast  results  ;  but  they  are  not  ultimates. 
They  have  their  own  causes  on  the  earth,  and  are  but  single 
links  in  the  vast  chain  which  stretches  backward  into  the 
unknown  past,  as  it  does  onward  into  the  unknown  future. 
Is  it  thus  with  Jesus  Christ  ? 


6o6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

And  here,  mark,  Jesus  Christ  was  expected.  It  is  his  own 
claim  that  he  was  expected  ;  that  he  was  the  fulfilment  of 
the  expectations  of  thirty  centuries ;  that  he  was  looked  for, 
longed  for,  prayed  for.  No  other  man  ever  was  expected. 
Christ  is   sinofular  in   this. 

The  literature  of  a  whole  people  is  filled  with  an  expected 
man.  Indeed,  on  close  examination,  the  expectation  of  a  man 
is  the  central  meaning  of  that  literature.  The  kind  of  man 
desired  is  clearly  laid  down.  There  is  no  place  either  to 
doubt  the  character  of  him  who  was  to  be  the  culmination, 
the  splendid  blossom,  of  a  long  history  and  a  nation's  epic. 
The  ideal  is  magnificent,  and  it  is  also  distinct. 

It  is  the  vision  of  all  the  seers,  the  proclamation  of  all  the 
prophets.  It  begins  at  the  gate  of  Paradise,  with  the  seed 
that  tramples  on  the  serpent ;  grows  clearer  to  Abraham  and 
Jacob  ;  distinctly  defines  itself  to  Moses ;  is  sung  by  David 
to  his  lyre  ;  in  Solomon's  great  temple,  swells  in  magnificent 
chant  upon  the  incense-laden  air,  while  the  trumpets  peal, 
and  the  harp-strings  quiver  in  the  chorus.  Amid  the  ruins 
of  the*  temple  and  the  city,  the  expected  man  is  still  the 
burden  of  Isaiah's  song  ;  and  his  splendid  coming  flames  afar 
through  Jeremiah's  tears.  In  captivity,  by  the  waters  of 
Babylon,  still  the  man  is  expected.  And  the  literature  of  a 
whole  people  ends  where  it  begins,  with  a  prophecy  of  his 
quick  coming,  and  the  manner  of  his  appearance.  Malachi 
closes  the  book.  It  is  still  the  old  story.  "The  Lord  whom 
ye  seek  shall  suddenly  come  to  his  temple,  even  the  messen- 
ger of  the  covenant,  whom  ye  delight  in  ;  he  shall  come, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  .  .  .  And  the  man  expected  is  a 
Prince,  a  Conqueror,  a  Deliverer.  He  comes  in  might,  he 
comes  with  joy,  he  comes  with  terror.  "  Who  may  abide  the 
day  of  his  coming  ?  Who  shall  stand  when  he  appeareth  ?  " 
"  A  refiner  and  purifier  of  silver."  By  the  red  furnace-mouth 
he  sits,  and  the  white  flame  leaps  and  glows ;  and  there  in 
the  fierce  blinding  heat,  he  tries  the  souls  of  men. 

Surely  the  brooding  of  three  thousand  years  shall  bring 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  607 

its  birth.  Surely  a  nation's  long  yearning  after  its  ideal  shall 
see  the  ideal  realized.  If  there  be  power  in  ancestral  desire, 
in  hereditary  type,  in  the  fixed  conception  of  the  generations, 
we  shall  know  the  man  when  he  comes,  and  say,  "  Out  of  a 
race's  throes  this  man  was  born.  He  bears  the  marks  of 
his  descent.  The  race  has  stamped  him  for  its  own,  and 
acknowledges  its  son,  —  the  son  of  its  heart  and  its  long 
desire." 

And  is  this  the  outcome,  —  this  child  the  shepherds  find 
in  the  cattle-trough  ?  Does  the  vision  of  ages  end  in  this  ? 
a  nation's  hopes  fulfil  themselves  here  ? 

Do  you  wonder  "his  own  received  him  not"?  I  say  he 
claims  to  be  the  one  expected,  and  lo  !  he  is  denied.  "  He 
hath  no  form  nor  comeliness  that "  they  "  should  desire  him." 
The  verdict  of  the  race  was,  that  he  was  not  a  development 
from  any  thing  among  them.  They  declined  to  recognize 
him  as  any  product  of  their  religion  or  their  prophecy.  He 
was  a  blank  disappointment ;  and,  above  all  men,  they  ought 
to  have  known.  .  .  . 

But  if  the  age-long  yearning  for  a  particular  type  had  no 
result  in  this  man,  if  three  thousand  years  of  intense  national 
character  and  national  desire  cannot  account  for  the  man  who 
claimed  to  fulfil  that  character,  and  be  that  desire,  can  the 
existing  national  character  and  condition  at  the  time  account 
for  him  as  its  result  ? 

His  environment  is  distinct  enough.  The  national  influ- 
ence into  which  he  was  born  was  one  of  the  most  powerful 
and  well-marked  ever  known..  Is  there  any  thing  in  it  to 
account  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ?  There  was  intense  race 
prejudice  and  coherence.  The  Jew  was  a  narrow,  isolated 
man,  who  w^ould  neither  dwell  nor  eat  with  any  not  a  Jew. 
All  other  men  were  counted  alien  from  his  sympathy  or  asso- 
ciation. Could  the  man  who  told  the  story  of  the  Good 
Samaritan  —  and  the  Samaritans  were  most  hated  and  despised 
— be  the  product  of  the  Jewish  feeling  of  his  time  ?  .  .  .  His 
life  was  spent  wholly  in  Judaea.     There  is  no  record,  not  even 


6o8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

a  suspicion,  of  his  having  been  subjected  to  any  other  than 
IsraeHtish  influences.  He  was,  hke  his  great  apostle,  a 
Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews  ;  but  not  hke  him  a  Roman  citizen, 
and  a  man  trained  in  Greek  philosophy. 

But,  admitting  it  possible  that  Roman  and  Greek  influ- 
ences were  in  the  air,  can  one  or  both  account  for  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ? 

There  is  no  mistake  possible  about  the  outcome  of  Greek 
thought,  or  the  character  that  Greek  influence  would  form. 
There  was  the  worship  of  beauty  in  sculpture,  painting,  or 
literary  expression  ;  the  passionate  search  for,  and  the  admi- 
ration of,  clear  human  thinking  and  its  expression.  "  The 
Greeks  seek  after  wisdom."  There  was  the  pride  of  culture, 
and  the  confidence  in  human  reason ;  and  a  contempt  for  the 
uncultured,  the  barbarians,  in  fit  ratio. 

Is  this  word  from  the  Academy  or  the  Porch  ?  "  Blessed 
are  the  meek ;  blessed  are  the  poor  in  spirit ;  blessed  are 
they  that  mourn."  One  can  scarce  imagine  any  thing  more 
foreign  to  Greek  thought  and  Greek  philosophy  than  the 
whole  teachino-  and  the  whole  life  of  Christ.  Whatever  else 
may  be  said  of  him,  the  slightest  knowledge  of  the  question 
compels  one  to  say  this  man  was  no  Greek. 

Was  he  a  Roman  ?  Born  in  the  Roman  Empire  he  was, 
and  about  him  were  the  Roman  laws  and  the  Roman  arms. 
Was  he  a  product  of  the  mighty  force  that  built  the  seven- 
hilled  mistress  of  the  world,  and  ruled  the  nations  at  her 
feet?  .  .  .  "Blessed  are  the  peacemakers."  Is  that  word  an 
echo  from  the  Senate  Chamber  or  the  shouting  Forum?  "  He 
that  is  greatest  among  you  shall  be  your  servant."  "  The 
Son  of  man  came  not  to  be  served,  but  to  serve."  Can  one 
imagine  words  more  utterly  against  every  Roman  conception 
of  human  life  and  fitting  human  opinion?  And  the  manner  of 
the  life,  and  the  end  of  the  life,  both  outrage  every  Roman 
sentiment  of  duty,  fitness,  and  human  dignity. 

By  the  law  of  the  case,  there  must  be  cause  sufficient  to 
explain  every  man.     He  is  what  he  is,  from  sufficient  power 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  609 

to  make  him  so.  He  is  a  product.  Heredity,  environment, 
and  the  rest  make  him.  But  when  you  try  the  law  on  this 
man,  it  fails.  The  human  intellect  is  challenged  to  explain 
him  by  the  known  methods  of  making  men.  He  has  no  race- 
mark.  He  bears  no  birth-mark.  Intellectually,  morally,  he 
is  like  his  shadowy  type  in  the  elder  day,  Melchizedek, 
"without  father,  without  mother,  without  descent,  having 
neither  beginning  of  days  nor  end  of  life."  He  stands  in 
lonely  majesty  a  man,  simply  the  Son  of  man,  as  he  called 
himself,  the  type  of  the  race  as  it  should  be,  with  no  narrower 
character  upon  him  than  manhood  ;  so  infinite  a  manhood, 
that  Jew  and  Greek  and  Roman  accept  him  as  their  brother 
and  their  king;  that  savage  man  and  civilized  man,  black 
man  and  white,  the  man  of  Jerusalem  and  the  man  of  New 
York,  alike  recognize  him  as  their  vision  of  human  perfection, 
of  human  beauty,  wisdom,  goodness,  and  power. 

He  is  of  no  race,  therefore  he  is  of  all.  And  each  sees  in 
him  his  own.  The  painters  are  our  witnesses.  The  Italian, 
filled  with  his  conception  of  the  perfect  humanity,  paints  an 
Italian  Christ ;  the  German,  putting  his  ideal  upon  canvas, 
paints  a  German  Christ ;  and  the  English  painter  makes  the 
face  looking  down  upon  you  an  English  face.  Even  the  poor 
village  artist  of  Central  America,  working  with  pigments  from 
the  leaves  and  roots  of  the  forest,  to  make  a  picture  for  the 
rude  parish  church,  will  paint  an  Aztec  Christ. 

Jesus  Christ  is  himself,  then,  one  of  the  ultimate  producing 
forces.  We  are  driven  back  to  that.  The  child  in  the  man- 
ger is  an  ultimate  germ  ;  the  seed  itself,  as  he  is  the  branch  ; 
the  root  of  Jesse  and  of  David.  .  .  .  For  this  child  was  born 
in  the  fulness  of  time,  at  a  particular  period,  and  in  a  par- 
ticular place,  when  the  world  was  ready  for  him,  and  the 
development  might  begin.  To  speak  in  the  tongue  of  our 
time,  the  environment  was  prepared  by  natural  development 
for  the  new  germ,  while  the  germ  itself  was  a  new  seed,  to 
begin  a  new  era.   .   .   . 

To  make  the  world  ready  for  the  child  in  the  manger,  and 


6lO  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

what  the  child  should  bringr,  the  legions  marched,  and  the 
proconsuls  ruled ;  the  Senate  decreed ;  the  augurs  looked 
for  the  auspices;  the  "twelve  gods"  stood  in  marble  silence 
behind  their  altars. 

For  this,  Pompey  conquered  the  East ;  for  this,  "  the  fore- 
most man  of  all  the  world  "  shook  the  German  forests  and 
the  far-off  shores  of  Britain  with  the  onset  of  the  invincible 
arms  ;  for  this,  Augustus  ruled  with  all  his  political  cunning  ; 
for  this,  he  decreed  that  "all  the  world  should  be  taxed,"  —  for 
this,  that  the  child  should  be  born  in  Bethlehem,  be  cradled 
in  the  manger  of  the  crowded  khan,  and  die,  at  last,  a  Roman 
death,  under  a  Roman  indictment,  by  the  cross,  and  not  a 
Jewish  death  by  stoning. 

But  Roman  preparation  was  not  enough,  even  in  its  ripe- 
ness. The  hour  waits  till  Rome  has  not  only  done  her  own 
work,  but  absorbed  the  work  of  others,  reaching  her  own 
crisis,  gathering  into  herself  the  past. 

Not  peace  only,  and  an  ordered  world,  and  the  settled 
facilities  of  intercourse  over  vast  spaces,  among  the  men  of 
three  continents,  were  needed  for  the  carriage  and  the  spread 
of  the  world's  new  story  from  the  manger,  but  a  language  in 
which  to  tell  it,  a  universal  tongue  spoken  in  Asia,  in  Africa, 
in  Europe,  in  Marseilles,  in  Alexandria,  in  Jerusalem,  and  in 
Rome,  —  a  language  of  common  intercourse  in  the  mart  and 
the  quay,  that  common  men  might  hear,  and  yet  a  language 
so  developed  by  orator  and  poet  and  philosopher,  that  it 
might  fitly  hold  this  most  wondrous  of  all  stories,  and  convey 
the  spiritual  power  it  enfolded. 

The  Roman  had  no  word  for  repentance,  no  word  for 
Saviour,  none  for  the  Anointed  himself.  He  did  not  repent, 
the  stern  materialist,  the  stoic  of  time.  He  needed  no  Sav- 
iour. The  pilum  and  the  short-sword  should  save  him,  or 
he  died.  His  tongue  was  barren  of  spiritual  power.  It  must 
be  converted  itself  before  it  could  say  the  alphabet  of  the 
child.  The  Roman  must  absorb  Greece  before  he  found  a 
language  for  the  good  news  of  Bethlehem. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6 1  I 

And  there  the  language  waited  for  St.  Paul  at  Athens,  for 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  for  the  plain  though  hesitating  pen 
of  St.  Peter.  The  richest  and  most  wonderful  tongue  ever 
•spoken  among  men  receives  into  its  most  permanent  litera- 
ture, and  as  the  choicest  treasure  it  holds  for  all  ages,  the 
New  Testament,  all  penned  by  foreign  hands,  all  tilled  by 
thought  foreign  to  Greek  intellect. 

And  we  may  say  that  Homer  wandered  and  sang  the 
"  Ballad  of  Troy  Town  ;  "  that  zEschylus  wrought  high  trage- 
dies ;  that  Demosthenes  thundered  in  the  Agora ;  that  Socra- 
tes questioned  among  his  scholars,  and  Plato  taught  and 
thought  and  wrote  ;  that  Themistocles  and  Miltiades  fought ; 
that  Alexander  conquered ;  that  Athens  shone  white  across 
the  sea,  and  the  Acropolis  gleamed  in  pillared  splendor,  —  that 
all  the  story  of  Greece,  like  all  the  story  of  Rome,  unrolled 
and  developed  till  the  time  came  for  the  child  in  the  manger. 


HENRY   NORRIS    BERNARD. 

[The  Mental  Characteristics  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.     New  York:  1888. 

Pp.  19,  26,  33.] 

Every  thing  that  is  good,  or  praiseworthy,  or  noble,  or 
lovable  in  man  was  found  in  its  highest  perfection  in  Jesus 
Christ.  Think  of  all  the  persons  whose  names  history  has 
handed  down  ;  is  there  any  among  them  so  human  as  was 
Christ?  Call  to  mind  all  the  heroes  ever  read  of  in  romance  ; 
is  there  any  that  can  for  one  moment  be  compared  with 
Christ  ?  There  is  no  need  to  point  out  that  nearly  all  the 
goodness  and  virtue  which  ennobles  man  at  the  present  time 
is  due  largely  to  the  example  of  Christ  and  to  his  teaching. 
If  the  noblest  of  the  old  Greeks  could  be  revived,  —  men 
such  as  Plato  or  Demosthenes,  —  with  their  idea  of  morality 
unchanged,  they  would  not  be  tolerated  in  our  midst.  Francis 
Newman  once  attempted  to  draw  a  comparison  between 
the   Lord  Jesus   Christ  and  Fletcher  of  Madeley.     No   one 


6l2  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

—  not  the  author  himself  —  ever  cared  to  revert  to  the 
illustration. 

But  even  had  any  comparison  been  possible,  was  not 
Christ  the  very  source  from  which  the  nobility  and  beauty 
of  character  of  such  men  as  St.  Francis  Xavier,  or  Fletcher 
of  Madeley,  was  derived?  It  was  because  they  were  disciples 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  something  of  the  glory  and 
grace  of  his  character  was  reflected  in  them. 

The  thought  of  Christ's  love  for  children  seems  so  in 
accordance  with  his  character,  that  we  never  pause  to  think 
that  it  was  any  thing  unusual  or  uncommon.  But  we  do  not 
find,  as  a  rule,  earth's  greatest  men  loving  towards  children. 
I  do  not  remember  to  have  read  that  Caesar,  or  Charlemagne, 
or  Charles  the  Fifth  were  much  interested  in  children.  I 
never  heard  of  Frederick  the  Great,  or  Napoleon,  or  even 
Carlyle,  dandling  children  on  their  knees.  I  doubt  if  the 
widow's  son  was  a  playmate  for  Elijah.  I  do  not  think  that 
St.  Paul  ever  mentions  children  with  any  special  tenderness. 
Luther,  indeed,  was  an  exception  ;  in  this  he  followed  the 
Master  whose  honor  he  upheld  so  bravely.  Even  to  the  dis- 
ciples, who  more  than  others  were  acquainted  with  his  ways 
and  thoughts,  it  seemed  an  act  unworthy  of  the  Messiah's 
dignity,  that  he  should  take  the  children  into  his  arms,  and 
bless  them.  It  is  a  thing  well  worthy  of  notice,  how  often  the 
Lord  speaks  of  little  children.  He  cites  them  as  types  of 
those  worthy  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  He  instances 
them  as  examples  of  guilelessness.  A  child  is  taken  and  set 
in  the  midst  of  the  disciples,  in  order  to  teach  them  humility. 
One  of  Christ's  solemn  warnings  is  suggested  by  the  sight  of 
children  at  their  games.  They  are  to  be  treated  with  rever- 
ence, because  their  angels  behold  the  Father's  face  in  heaven. 
Children's  voices  are  welcome  to  Christ,  and  must  not  be 
silenced  as,  attending  his  entry  into  Jerusalem,  they  shout 
their  glad  hosannas.  Nay,  we  are  told  that  whosoever 
rcceiveth  th(^  child  in  Christ's  name  receiveth  Christ  himself. 
If  it  had  been  otherwise,  if  Christ  had  passed  by  the  children 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  6 1 3 

as  other  men  pass  them  by,  how  much  the  world  would  have 
missed,  how  much  of  the  exceeding  beauty  of  the  Saviour's 
character  would  have  been  lost  to  man  ! 

The  study  of  the  mental  characteristics  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  of  the  deepest  importance,  because  the  power  of 
Christianity  rests  on  the  person  of  Christ.  The  Evangelists 
ever  keep  before  our  view  the  personality  of  the  Saviour. 
The  Gospels  are  memoirs  of  the  person  of  the  Son  of  man. 
We  can  see,  touch,  and  handle  him.  We  can  hear  his  voice  ; 
we  can  see,  as  it  were,  his  very  gestures. 

The  Gospel  is  not  the  exposition  of  a  doctrine,  but  the 
story  of  a  life.  Christianity  is  based,  not  so  much  upon  a 
system  of  doctrines,  as  upon  the  person  of  Christ.  The 
relationship  between  Christ  and  his  people  is  a  personal 
relationship.  If  Christianity  is  regarded  as  a  system  of 
doctrines,  its  doctrines,  glorious  as  they  may  be,  are  mere 
empty  husks  unless  there  is  in  them  the  presence  and  power 
of  a  living  personal  Saviour.  If  Christianity  is  regarded  as  a 
great  moral  law,  —  and  what  law  was  ever  so  beautiful  in  its 
purity,  or  majestic  in  its  holiness,  as  the  Gospel?  —  the  moral 
law  is  powerless,  unless,  by  union  with  the  person  of  the  Law- 
giver, grace  and  strength  are  drawn  to  enable  men  to  keep  it. 
If  Christianity  is  viewed  as  a  means  of  redemption,  the  very 
object  of  redemption  is  to  unite  man,  by  the  removal  of  sin, 
in  living  personal  communion  with  God. 

The  morality  of  the  Stoic  philosophers  could  not  regener- 
ate the  Roman  Empire.  The  lofty  ideals  of  the  Platonists 
failed  equally.  It  was  Christianity  which  saved  the  world. 
It  was  Christ  which  saved  the  world.  It  was  not  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  however  far-reachino-  to  the  heart's  lowest 
depths  that  sermon  went.  It  was  Christ,  the  living,  personal 
Saviour.  His  living  influence,  gaining  to  himself  man's 
affections,  subdued  the  prevailing  evils  ;  his  personal  presence, 
felt  and  realized  in  men's  hearts,  regenerated  society. 


6 14  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

WILLIAM    ALEXANDER. 

[The  Great  Question.     London:  1S87.     Pp.  4-7,  9-1 1,  18-25,  288.] 

"  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?" 

I.  Starting  from  the  lowest  point,  we  "think"  that  he  is 
exceptional  in  the  spiritual  world.  For,  first,  accepting  the 
Gospels  only  in  the  most  general  sense  as  a  true  record,  we 
come  to  this  entirely  exceptional  fact,  —  a  perfectly  holy  man 
who  proclaims  that  he  is  so. 

Consider  here  one  law  of  the  spiritual  order,  and  the 
solitary  exception  to  it. 

The  law  to  which  I  refer  is  that  the  holiest  men  are  ever 
most  conscious  of  their  own  sinfulness. 

No  wonder.  The  artist  paints,  and  the  poet  writes. 
Those  who  are  content  with  their  own  productions  may  have 
dexterity  in  manipulation,  or  the  facility  in  fluent  rhyme  which 
wins  prize  poems,  or  even  places  them  among  "  the  mob  of 
gentlemen  who  write  with  ease  ;  "  but  they  have  not  that  rest- 
less yearning  after  an  unattained  ideal  which  is  the  heritage 
of  genius.  They  are  self-convicted  of  second-rate  aspirations 
and  an  inferior  aim.  No  finer  ether  clothes  their  fields,  no 
amplitudes  of  light.  They  do  not  see  widely  over  that  which 
Isaiah  calls,  in  his  royal  style,  "  the  land  of  farnesses."  And 
so  a  self-satisfied  man  may  possess  a  certain  mechanical 
regularity  of  conduct.  He  may  be  a  very  respectable 
Pharisee.  But  he  has  none  of  that  sublime  dissatisfaction 
with  self  which  is  the  peculiarity  of  the  saints  of  the  Church. 

To  this  law  there  is  one  solitary  exception.  Jesus,  as  we 
know,  has  the  witness  of  his  enemies.  The  Jews,  Pilate,  Judas, 
—  the  man  who  above  all  others  was  interested  in  blackening 
his  character,  —  alike  attest  his  innocence.  He  has  a  witness 
harder  to  gain,  —  that  of  friends.  Every  very  considerable 
man  at  least  is  having  materials  for  his  life  written  as  if  with 
a  pen  of  iron  that  never  blunts,  with  an  ink  that  never  fades, 
with  a  curiosity  that  never  falters.     He  is  watched  by  unsus- 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6 1 5 

pected  eyes,  and  reported  by  unexpected  hands.  Christ's 
disciples  had  been  with  him  in  all  circumstances  of  familiarity. 
They  had  tenanted  the  same  narrow  chamber  ;  they  had  rocked 
in  the  same  little  boat.  One  hasty  word,  one  questionable 
look,  one  act  of  selfishness,  would  have  caused  the  light  to 
fade  from  his  face  and  the  diadem  to  pale  upon  his  brow.  Yet, 
writing  long  years  after,  his  nearest  intimate  can  say,  "  We 
beheld  his  glory,  the  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the 
Father."  But,  above  all,  he  has  his  own  witness.  True  with 
a  perfect  truth,  conscious  how  his  nights  and  days  were  spent, 
he  can  say,  "As  the  living  Father  hath  sent  me,  so  I  live  by 
the  Father."  We  have  one  long  soliloquy  of  his  soul  with 
God.  There  is  in  it  no  utterance  of  conscious  sin,  no  half-sio^h 
of  confession.  In  the  last  moments  of  existence,  with  the 
light  of  eternity  breaking  around  him,  he  can  look  up  and 
say,  "  I  have  finished  the  work  which  thou  gavest  me  to  do." 
His  language  leaves  no  doubt  that  he  cannot  include  himself 
among  sinners. 

When,  then,  he  who  spoke  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  tells 
us  that  he  lived  it,  we  are  already  in  possession  of  a  unique 
fact.  We  may  chop  logic  about  miracles  as  much  as  we  like. 
We  are  In  presence  of  a  77tiracle. 

"  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  " 

2.  That  he  is  "  Firstborn  from  the  dead." 

With  a  manly  confidence  in  historical  truth  we  meet  a 
criticism  which  sometimes  affects  the  passionless  precision  of 
logic,  and  is  sometimes  tinctured  with  the  airy  colors  of 
romance. 

The  resurrection  is  not  a  fraud.  The  despised  apologetics 
of  the  last  century  have  at  least  done  this  service,  that  they 
have  blown  this  coarse  and  clumsy  theory  into  space.  The 
resurrection  is  not  a  singular  recovery  of  a  lacerated  and 
tortured  man,  awakened  from  a  death-like  swoon  by  the  cool- 
ness of  a  rocky  chamber  or  the  pungency  of  the  spices.  We 
have  to  account  for  cowards  turned  into  heroes,  for  the  faith 
that  overcame  the  world.     The  Gospels  imply  the  lustre  and 


6l6  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

beauty  of  a  new  life,  —  a  form  with  the  suffering  Hfted  off 
until  it  seemed  "  other,"  A  brow  marked  with  thorns ;  a 
frame  cramped  with  agony  ;  a  lamed  man  ;  a  crawling  spectre, 
skulking  and  whispering,  —  could  that  have  seemed  the  risen 
Lord,  the  Prince  of  life  ?  Strange  source  of  deathless  joy ! 
Strange  spring  for  that  full  tide  of  which  each  Easter  is  but 
one  flashing  ripple !  Nor,  again,  is  the  resurrection  the 
projection  of  a  creative  enthusiasm.  As  the  Church  is  too 
holy  for  a  foundation  of  rottenness,  so  is  she  too  real  for  a 
foundation  of  mist. 

Here  are  two  propositions  of  which  we  need  not  be 
ashamed :  — 

(i)  It  is  impossible  to  account  for  the  existence  of  the 
Church,  without  a  belief  in  the  resurrection  on  the  part  of 
the  primitive  witnesses. 

(2)  It  is  impossible  to  account  for  that  belief  without  its 
being  founded  on  reality. 

Faith  did  not  create  the  resurrection :  the  resurrection 
created  faith. 

We  "  think,"  then,  that  as  Christ  was  exceptional  in  his 
life,  and  in  the  benefits  which  he  conferred  upon  humanity,  so 
was  he  in  his  victory  over  the  grave. 

"  What  think  ye  of  Christ  ?  " 

3.  In  this  ancient  home  of  Christian  learning,  we  answer 
with  the  Wisdom  of  Proverbs,  "  I  am  understanding  ;  "  with 
St.  Paul,  "  Christ  the  wisdom  of  God." 

How  can  that  be  ?  some  may  ask.  What  were  once 
called  "  the  evidences  of  Christianity  "  have  been  suddenly 
struck  by  bolts  from  the  clouds,  and  their  splinters  are  still 
white  upon  the  ground.  Butler  and  Paley,  the  great  aca- 
demic apologists  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  are  no  longer 
names  to  conjure  with.  Butler's  argument  no  longer  tells. 
A  generation  which  has  killed  religion  at  its  very  roots  is 
impervious  to  any  answers  which  are  conclusive  only  for  those 
who  believe  that  nature  comes  from  a  conscious,  personal, 
designing  God,  and  which   only  meet  such  objections   to  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6 1 7 

Christian  scheme  as  are  equally  valid  against  the  constitution 
and  course  of  nature  considered  as  divine.  Paley's  defence 
of  the  resurrection  is  a  defence  against  one  line  of  attack, 
which  no  one  cares  to  adopt.  The  syllogisms  of  Christianity 
are  traversed  by  tremendous  negations.  Its  Church  has  lost 
the  mysterious  awe  which  brooded  over  her  altars.  The  most 
venerated  pages  of  its  Bible  have  been  gnawed  away  by  the 
rats  of  criticism.  Its  creation  is  an  obsolete  theory.  Its 
redemption  is  undermined  by  the  annihilation  of  the  myth  of 
the  fall,  and  the  work  of  the  second  Adam  evaporated  by 
the  proved  non-existence  of  the  first.  To  these  things  lie  is 
committed  of  whom  you  speak  as  the  Word  and  the  Wisdom. 

I  will  not  enter  upon  any  defence  of  those  words  which 
have  created  Christendom  and  civilization,  —  into  whose  clear 
spiritual  depths  eighteen  centuries  have  gazed  down,  and 
never  seen  the  very  last  of  their  meaning.  I  will  not  attempt 
to  show  how  truly  they  do,  not  of  course  anticipate,  but  "  run 
round  the  margin  of  all  possible  discovery."  Any  grave  and 
serious  demur  to  this  statement  can  only  come  from  the  doc- 
trine of  evoliitioii  and  its  supposed  consequences.  On  this 
subject  I  will  therefore  venture  three  remarks. 

(i)  As  regards  the  difficulty  of  reconciling  creation  — 
as  recorded  by  Moses,  and  accepted  by  our  Lord  —  with 
evolution,  let  us  remember  that  long  centuries  before  the  birth 
of  modern  science,  one  of  the  greatest  of  Christian  thinkers 
(St.  Augustine)  clearly  perceived  that  creation  was  not  the 
exclusively  momentary  act  which  it  was  generally  supposed 
to  be  in  all  Christian  schools.  He  bids  us  "  consider  the 
beauty  of  any  tree  in  trunk,  branches,  leaves,  fruit.  All 
these  things  were  in  the  seed,  not  materially  and  in  bulk, 
but  potentially  and  inclusively.  What  is  there  hanging 
from  or  growing  out  of  that  tree  which  is  not  evolved  from 
the  hidden  treasure  of  the  seed  ?  So  with  animals,  so  with 
the  world.  Not  only  heaven  and  earth  and  sea,  but  those 
things  which  earth  and  water  produced  potentially  and  caus- 
ally before  they  passed  through  the  necessary  delay  of  time 


6i8  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

into   the  shape   in   which   they  are   known  to   us,   are   those 
works  which  God  is  working  even  now." 

So  far  St.  Augustine.  In  point  of  essential  principle,  that 
"  inagnus  opinator  "  might  have  had  the  same  difficulty  in 
kind  in  saying,  "  I  believe  in  God,  .  .  .  Maker  of  heaven 
and  earth,"  which  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  so  incumbent 
upon  us  as  cultivated  beings  nowadays.  More  and  more  do 
we  find  illustrations  of  the  pregnant  saying  which  reminds 
us,  that,  in  regard  to  great  discoveries  of  thought,  opinion 
invariably  passes  through  three  stages,  which  may  be  ex- 
pressed in  three  sentences,  —  first,  "  That  is  absurd  ;  "  then, 
"  That  is  impious  ;  "  finally,  "  Everybody  knows  that." 

(2)  The  fact  that  as  to  our  bodily  organization  we  were 
moulded  by  evolution,  is  a  fact  which  was  known  to,  and  delib- 
erately developed  by,  a  psalmist.  The  threads  of  a  strange 
embroidery  are,  he  tells  us,  shot  through  the  woof  that 
covers  the  spot  where  human  life  lies  folded  in  its  ante-natal 
cell.  The  Psalmist  knew  it.  Did  he  draw  the  lesson  of 
atheism  from  histology  and  embryology  ?  Nay,  strengthened 
by  his  faith,  I,  the  creature  of  evolution,  dare  to  say  to  you, 
the  creatures  of  evolution,  "  My  substance  was  not  hid  from 
thee,  when  I  was  made  in  secret,  and  curiously  wrought  in 
the  lowest  parts  of  the  earth.  Thine  eyes  did  see  my  sub- 
stance, yet  being  unperfect  ;  and  in  thy  book  all  my  members 
were  written.  .  .  .  How  precious  are  thy  thoughts  unto  me, 
O  God  !     How  great  is  the  sum  of  them  !  " 

(3)  Evolution  is  a  chain  which  has  as  many  gaps  as 
links. 

Tile  difficulty  is  not  only  one  of  abstract  thought.  If, 
indeed,  there  was  no  mind  in  the  universe  before  the  prin- 
ciple of  evolution  came  into  action,  that  principle  must  have 
sprung  from  notJiing.  Then  the  mindless  universe  becomes, 
as  has  been  well  said,  "  a  great  bank  without  a  banker, 
which  is  nevertheless  constantly  accumulating  at  compound 
interest  advantages  which  spring  out  of  nothing,  and  are 
prolific  of  every  thing." 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  619 

But,  beyond  this,  evolution  does  not  account  for  all. 
Perhaps  for  the  horse's  hoof,  with  its  distinctly  marked  stages; 
scarcely  for  the  song  of  the  nightingale,  or  the  glory  of  the 
peacock,  or  the  fragrance  of  the  rose  ;  certainly  not  for  the 
secret  behind  the  embryo,  not  for  the  mystery  of  music,  not 
for  infinite  capacity  of  thought,  not  for  the  subtle  many- 
chorded  instrument  of  speech.  Possibly  it  may  account  for  the 
conscience  of  the  pointer  which  crouches  after  misbehavior ; 
certainly  not  for  the  conscience  of  the  man,  with  its  strange 
awakenings  and  exquisite  delicacy.  It  may  account  for  utilita- 
rian adaptations  in  nature ;  not  for  the  law  of  beauty,  which 
tells  us  that  as  the  symbols  of  things,  when  they  are  painted 
or  written,  are  the  creations  of  mind,  so  the  very  things 
themselves  are  the  creation  of  an  almighty  Poet  and  Artist. 
Evolution  cannot  account  for  the  passage  from  the  inorganic 
to  the  organic,  from  matter  to  life.  No  generatio  cBquivoca 
has  cashiered  the  living  God. 

It  may  fare  with  this  as  with  previous  theories.  The 
battle-guns  which  one  generation  has  turned  upon  the  lines 
of  the  army  of  Christ  may  be  melted  into  church-bells  for  the 
next. 

Thus,  to  sum  up  our  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  think 
ye  of  Christ?"  beginning  from  that  which  is  plainest  and 
most  obvious,  because  it  is  part  of  the  picture  which  looks  at 
us  from  the  pages  of  the  Gospels,  we  answer  that  the  man 
there  presented  to  us  is  the  solitary  exception  to  the  most 
general  law  of  the  spiritual  w^orld,  which  makes  a  deeper 
sense  of  sinfulness  the  invariable  result  of  a  deeper  holiness. 
Comparing  the  life  of  the  Christian  Church  and  of  Christian 
nations  with  that  which  is  found  outside  the  atmosphere 
which  we  breathe  in  Christ,  we  reply  that  this  man  is  the 
creative  beginning  of  a  new  and  Divine  creation  of  holiness 
and  beneficence,  and  we  understand  something  of  St.  Paul's 
meaning,  when,  in  the  Episde  to  the  Colossians,  he  holds 
him  up  to  gnostic  Judaism  as  one  "  who  is  the  beginning." 

Turning  to   the  central  point  of  his  history  about  whom 


620  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

we  inquire,  —  his  resurrection,  —  we  find  that  it  is  not  to 
be  accounted  for  by  fraud,  or  unusual  recovery,  or  creative 
enthusiasm.  We  have  here  a  rock  from  which  all  the  ham- 
mers of  criticism  have  never  chipped  a  single  fragment.  But 
looking  upon  him  as  the  one  sinless  man,  the  beginning  of 
the  new  creation  of  God,  the  first-begotten  from  the  dead, 
our  answer  naturally  rises  so  as  to  take  in  the  incarnation. 
For  in  the  Gospels  we  have  a  character,  not  sketched  in 
outline,  but  detailed  ;  witnessed  to  by  enemies,  by  friends, 
by  himself.  We  search  the  histories  of  philosophies,  and 
the  calendars  of  religions,  even  the  delineations  of  romance. 
We  summon  before  "  the  sessions  of  sweet  solemn  thought" 
the  gentlest  and  purest  who  have  passed  from  our  shores. 
"  Oh,  loving  hearts !  "  we  cry  to  them,  "  shall  we  deem  you 
entirely  pure  and  sinless,  robed  as  you  are  in  death's  awful 
whiteness  ?  "  They  cannot  abide  our  questioning  ;  they  point 
to  stains.  And  then  One  passes  by,  like  us  in  form,  feature, 
function,  language,  thought,  affection,  tears,  blood,  and  says, 
"  Which  of  you  convinceth  me  of  sin  ?  "  In  earth  or  heaven, 
only  the  Galilaean  peasant  can  stand  our  scrutiny.  How  can 
we  account  for  this  ?  .  .  . 

Christianity  Jias  a  history,  but  is  not  a  history.  Chris- 
tianity has  a  book,  but  is  not  a  book.  An  idea  may  be  great, 
a  history  may  be  great ;  but  a  person  is  greater.  Luther's 
work,  or  Napoleon's  work,  is  now  linked  to  Luther's  or 
Napoleon's  ideas  or  history,  and  to  nothing  else.  We  have 
the  ideas  and  the  history  of  Christ  in  the  Gospels  and 
Epistles,  —  the  most  efficacious  of  all  ideas,  the  most  true 
and  living  of  all  history.  But  Christ's  work  continues  linked 
to  Christ's  life.  Listen  to  the  last  words  of  the  record  of  the 
life  in  the  second  Gospel  :  "  They  went  forth  and  preached 
everywhere,  the  Lord  working  with  them."  Listen  to  the 
first  line  of  the  first  history  of  the  Church  :  "  The  former 
treatise  have  I  made  of  all  that  Jesus  bcc^an  both  to  do 
and  teach."  Just  so.  The  Gospel  itself  is  but  the  beginning 
of  that  vohiminous  speech,  of  that  crowded  epic  of  works  of 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  62  I 

love  and  wonder.  Christ  is  not  merely  the  central  ri<rure 
of  the  Galilaean  idyl,  or  a  form  nailed  to  a  crucifix,  or  a 
pathetic  memory.  Our  relation  to  him  is  not  merely  one  of 
idea,  or  of  recollection,  or  of  literary  sympathy.  It  is  a  pres- 
ent union  of  life  with  life.  He  does  not  say,  "  Because  my 
words  shall  be  gathered  up  and  written  down  with  absolute 
truth,  my  religion  shall  live."  He  does  say,  "  Because  I  live, 
ye  shall  live  also." 


LEO    N.    TOLSTOI. 

[My   Religion.     New  York:  1885.     Pp.  46,  48,  loi,  112,  157,  179,  192,  239,  262.] 

When  we  once  understand  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  in  all  its 
bearings,  with  all  its  consequences,  we  shall  be  convinced  that 
his  doctrine  is  not  contrary  to  human  nature  ;  but  that  its  sole 
object  is  to  supplant  the  chimerical  law  of  the  struggle  against 
evil  by  violence,  —  itself  the  law  contrary  to  human  nature, 
and  productive  of  so  many  evils. 

Do  you  say  that  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  "  Resist  not  evil'' 
is  vain  ?  What,  then,  are  we  to  think  of  the  lives  of  those 
who  are  not  filled  with  love  and  compassion  for  their  kind,  — 
of  those  who  make  ready  for  their  fellow-men  punishment  at 
the  stake,  by  the  knout,  the  wheel,  the  rack,  chains,  compul- 
sory labor,  the  gibbet,  dungeons,  prisons  for  women  and 
children,  the  hecatombs  of  war,  or  bring  about  periodical 
revolutions  ;  of  those  who  carry  these  horrors  into  execution  ; 
of  those  who  benefit  by  these  calamities,  or  prepare  reprisals, 
—  are  not  such  lives  vain  ? 

We  need  only  understand  the  doctrine  of  Jesus,  to  be  con- 
vinced that  existence,  —  not  the  reasonable  existence  which 
gives  happiness  to  humanity,  but  the  existence  men  have 
organized  to  their  own  hurt,  —  that  such  an  existence  is  a 
vanity,  the  most  savage  and  horrible  of  vanities,  a  veritable 
delirium  of  folly,  to  which,  once  reclaimed,  we  do  not  again 
return.  .  .  . 


u 


62  2  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

The  prophet  Elijah,  a  fugitive  from  men,  took  refuge  in  a 
cave,  and  was  told  that  God  would  appear  to  him.  There 
came  a  great  wind  that  devastated  the  forest ;  Elijah  thought 
that  the  Lord  had  come  :  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  wind. 
After  the  wind  came  the  thunder  and  the  lip^htnino-  but  God 
was  not  there.  Then  came  the  earthquake ;  the  earth  belched 
forth  fire,  the  rocks  were  shattered,  the  mountain  was  rent  to 
its  foundations :  Elijah  looked  for  the  Lord,  but  the  Lord  was 
not  in  the  earthquake.  Then,  in  the  calm  that  followed,  a 
gentle  breeze  came  to  the  prophet,  bearing  the  freshness  of 
the  fields ;  and  Elijah  knew  that  God  was  there.  It  is  a 
magnificent  illustration  of  the  words,  "  Resist  not  eviir 

They  are  very  simple,  these  words ;  but  they  are,  never- 
theless, the  expression  of  a  law  divine  and  human.  If  there 
has  been  in  history  a  progressive  movement  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  evil,  it  is  due  to  the  men  who  understood  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus,  who  endured  evil,  and  resisted  not  evil  by  violence. 
The  advance  of  humanity  towards  righteousness  is  due,  not 
to  the  tyrants,  but  to  the  martyrs.  As  fire  cannot  extinguish 
fire,  so  evil  cannot  suppress  evil.  Good  alone,  confronting 
evil,  and  resisting  its  contagion,  can  overcome  evil.  And  in 
the  inner  world  of  the  human  soul,  the  law  is  as  absolute  as 
it  was  for  the  hearers  by  Galilee,  more  absolute,  more  clear, 
more  immutable.  Men  may  turn  aside  from  it,  they  may  hide 
its  truth  from  others ;  but  the  progress  of  humanity  towards 
righteousness  can  only  be  attained  in  this  way.  Every  step 
must  be  guided  by  the  command,  "  Resist  not  evilT  A  disci- 
ple of  Jesus  may  say  now,  with  greater  assurance  than  they 
of  Galilee,  in  spite  of  misfortunes  and  threats,  "And  yet 
it  is  not  violence,  but  good,  that  overcomes  evil."  If  the 
progress  is  slow,  it  is  because  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  (wliich. 
through  its  clearness,  simplicity,  and  wisdom,  appeals  so  inevi- 
tal^ly  to  human  nature),  —  because  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  has 
been  cunningly  concealed  from  the  majority  of  mankind,  under 
an  entirely  different  doctrine  falsely  called  by  his  name.  .  .  . 
c        Our  existence  is  now  so  entirely  in  contradiction  with  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  623 

doctrine  of  Jesus,  that  only  with  the  greatest  difficulty  can  we 
understand  its  meaninof.  We  have  been  so  deaf  to  the  rules 
of  life  that  he  has  given  us,  to  his  explanations,  —  not  only 
when  he  commands  us  not  to  kill,  but  when  he  warns  us 
against  anger,  when  he  commands  us  not  to  resist  evil,  to 
turn  the  other  cheek,  to  love  our  enemies  ;  we  are  so  accus- 
tomed to  speak  of  a  body  of  men  especially  organized  for 
murder,  as  a  Christian  army ;  we  are  so  accustomed  to  prayers 
addressed  to  the  Christ  for  the  assurance  of  victory,  we 
who  have  made  the  sword,  that  symbol  of  murder,  an  almost 
sacred  object  (so  that  a  man  deprived  of  this  symbol,  of  his 
sword,  is  a  dishonored  man),  —  we  are  so  accustomed,  I  say, 
to  this,  that  the  words  of  Jesus  seem  to  us  compatible  with 
war.   ... 

Why  is  it  that  men  have  not  done  as  Jesus  commanded 
them,  and  thus  secured  the  greatest  happiness  within  their 
reach,  the  happiness  they  have  always  longed  for,  and  still 
desire  ?  The  reply  to  this  inquiry  is  always  the  same,  although 
expressed  in  different  ways. 

The  doctrine  of  Jesus,  we  are  told,  is  admirable  ;  and  it  is 
true  that  if  we  practised  it,  we  should  see  the  kingdom  of 
God  established  upon  the  earth  :  but  to  practise  it  is  difficult, 
and  consequently  this  doctrine  is  impracticable.  The  doctrine 
of  Jesus,  which  teaches  men  how  they  should  live,  is  admir- 
able, is  divine ;  it  brings  true  happiness :  but  it  is  difficult  to 
practise.  We  repeat  this,  and  hear  it  repeated  so  many,  many 
times,  that  we  do  not  observe  the  contradiction  contained  in 
these  words. 

It  is  natural  to  each  human  being,  to  do  what  seems  to 
him  best.  Any  doctrine  teaching  men  how  they  should  live, 
instructs  them  only  as  to  what  is  best  for  each.  If  we  show 
men  what  they  have  to  do  to  attain  what  is  best  for  each,  how 
can  they  say  that  they  would  like  to  do  it,  but  that  it  is  im- 
possible of  attainment  ?  According  to  the  law  of  their  nature, 
they  cannot  do  what  is  worse  for  each,  and  yet  they  declare 
that  they  cannot  do  what  is  best. 


624  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

The  reasonable  activity  of  man,  from  his  earUest  existence, 
has  been  appHed  to  the  search  for  what  is  best  among  the 
contradictions  that  envelop  human  life.  Men  struggled  for 
the  soil,  for  objects  which  are  necessary  to  them  ;  then  they 
arrived  at  the  division  of  goods,  and  called  this  property ; 
finding  that  this  arrangement,  although  difficult  to  establish, 
was  best,  they  maintained  ownership.  Men  fought  with  one 
another  for  the  possession  of  women  ;  they  abandoned  their 
children ;  then  they  found  it  was  best  that  each  should  have  his 
own  family ;  and  although  it  was  difficult  to  sustain  a  family, 
they  maintained  the  family,  as  they  did  ownership  and  many 
other  things.  As  soon  as  they  discover  that  a  thing  is  best, 
however  difficult  of  attainment,  men  do  it.  What,  then,  is 
the  meaning  of  the  saying,  that  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  admir- 
able, that  a  life  according  to  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  would 
be  better  than  the  life  which  men  now  lead,  but  that  men 
cannot  lead  this  better  life  because  it  is  difficult  ? 

If  the  word  "  difficult,"  used  in  this  way,  is  to  be  under- 
stood in  the  sense  that  it  is  difficult  to  renounce  the  fleeting 
satisfaction  of  sensual  desires  that  we  may  obtain  a  greater 
good,  why  do  we  not  say  that  it  is  difficult  to  labor  for  bread, 
difficult  to  plant  a  tree  that  we  may  enjoy  the  fruit  ?  Every 
being  endowed  with  even  the  most  rudimentary  reason  knows 
that  he  must  endure  difficulties  to  procure  any  good  superior 
to  that  which  he  had  enjoyed  before.  And  yet  w^e  say  that 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  admirable,  but  impossible  of  practice 
because  it  is  difficult!  Now,  it  is  difficult,  because  in  follow- 
ing it  we  are  obliged  to  deprive  ourselves  of  many  things 
that  we  have  hitherto  enjoyed.  Have  we  never  heard  that  it 
is  far  more  to  our  advantage  to  endure  difficulties  and  priva- 
tions, than  to  satisfy  all  our  desires?  Man  ma)-  fall  to  the 
level  of  the  beasts,  but  he  ought  not  to  make  use  of  his 
reason  to  devise  an  apology  for  his  bestialit)-.  From  the 
moment  that  he  begins  to  reason,  he  is  conscious  of  being 
endowed  with  reason,  and  this  consciousness  stimulates  him 
to  distinguish  between  the  reasonable  and  the  unreasonable. 
R(;ason  does  not  proscribe  :   it  enlightens. 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  625 

Suppose  that  I  am  shut  into  a  dark  room,  and  in  searching 
for  tiie  door,  I  continually  bruise  myself  against  the  walls. 
Some  one  brings  me  a  light,  and  I  see  the  door.  I  ought  no 
lonofer  to  bruise  myself,  when  I  see  the  door  ;  much  less 
ouofht  I  to  affirm,  that,  although  it  is  best  to  to  out  throuorh 
the  door,  it  is  difficult  to  do  so,  and  that,  consequently,  I 
prefer  to  bruise  myself  against  the  walls.   .  .  . 

The  circus  at  Berditchef  is  in  flames.  A  crowd  of  people 
are  struggling  before  the  only  place  of  exit,  —  a  door  that 
opens  inward.  Suddenly,  in  the  midst  of  the  crowd,  a  voice 
rings  out :  "  Back  !  stand  back  from  the  door  !  The  closer  you 
press  against  it,  the  less  the  chance  of  escape  !  Stand  back  ! 
That  is  your  only  chance  of  safety!  "  Whether  I  am  alone  in 
understanding  this  command,  or  whether  others  with  me  also 
hear  and  understand,  I  have  but  one  duty,  and  that  is,  from 
the  moment  I  have  heard  and  understood,  to  fall  back  from 
the  door,  and  to  call  upon  every  one  to  obey  the  voice  of  the 
savior.  I  may  be  suffocated,  I  may  be  crushed  beneath  the 
feet  of  the  multitude,  I  may  perish  ;  my  sole  chance  of  safety 
is  to  do  the  one  thino-  necessarv  to  o-a-in  an  exit.  And  I  can 
do  nothing  else.  A  savior  should  be  a  savior ;  that  is,  one 
who  saves.  And  the  salvation  of  Jesus  is  the  true  salvation. 
He  came,  he  preached  his  doctrine,  and  humanity  is  saved. 

The  circus  may  burn  in  an  hour,  and  those  penned  up  in 
it  may  have  no  time  to  escape.  But  the  world  has  been  burn- 
ing for  eighteen  hundred  years  ;  it  has  burned  ever  since 
Jesus  said,  "  I  am  come  to  send  fire  on  the  earth  ;  "  and  I 
suffer  as  it  burns,  and  it  will  continue  to  burn  until  humanity 
is  saved.  Was  not  this  fire  kindled  that  men  mi^ht  have  the 
felicity  of  salvation  ?  Understanding  this,  I  understood  and 
believed  that  Jesus  is  not  only  the  Messiah,  that  is,  the 
Anointed  One,  the  Christ,  but  that  he  is  in  truth  the  Saviour 
of  the  world.  I  know  that  he  is  the  only  way ;  that  there  is 
no  other  way  for  me,  or  for  those  who  are  tormented  with  me, 
in  this  life.  I  know  that  for  me,  as  for  all,  there  is  no  other 
safety  than    the    fulfilment  of  the  commandments   of  Jesus, 


626  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

who  gave  to  all  humanity  the  greatest  conceivable  sum  of 
benefits.  ... 

Jesus  did  not  ask  us  to  pass  from  better  to  worse,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  from  worse  to  better.  He  had  pity  upon  men, 
who  to  him  were  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  He  said 
that  his  disciples  would  be  persecuted  for  his  doctrine,  and 
that  they  must  bear  the  persecutions  of  the  world  with  resolu- 
tion. But  he  did  not  say  that  those  who  followed  his  doctrine 
would  suffer  more  than  those  who  followed  the  world's  doc- 
trine :  on  the  contrary,  he  said  that  those  who  followed  the 
world's  doctrine  Vv^ould  be  wretched,  and  that  those  who  fol- 
lowed his  doctrine  would  have  joy  and  peace.  Jesus  did  not 
teach  salvation  by  faith  in  asceticism  or  voluntary  torture  ;  but 
he  taught  us  a  way  of  life,  which,  while  saving  us  from  the 
emptiness  of  the  personal  life,  would  give  us  less  of  suffering 
and  more  of  joy.  Jesus  told  men  that  in  practising  his  doc- 
trine among  unbelievers,  they  would  be,  not  more  unhappy, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  much  more  happy,  than  those  who  did 
not  practise  it. 

Jesus  declared,  it  is  true,  that  those  who  follow  his  doc- 
trine must  expect  to  be  persecuted  by  those  who  do  not  follow 
it,  but  he  did  not  say  that  his  disciples  will  be  the  worse  off 
for  that  reason  :  on  the  contrary,  he  said  that  his  disciples 
would  have  here,  in  this  world,  more  benefits  than  those  who 
did  not  follow  him.  That  Jesus  said  and  thought  this,  is  be- 
yond a  doubt ;  as  the  clearness  of  his  words  on  this  subject, 
the  meaning  of  his  entire  doctrine,  his  life,  and  the  life  of  his 
disciples,  plainly  show.  But  was  his  teaching  in  this  respect 
true? 

When  we  examine  the  question  as  to  which  of  the  two 
conditions  would  be  the  better,  that  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus 
or  that  of  the  disciples  of  the  world,  we  are  obliged  to  con- 
clude that  the  condition  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  ought  to  be 
the  most  desirable,  since  the  disciples  of  Jesus,  in  doing  good 
to  every  one,  would  not  arouse  the  hatred  of  men.  The  dis- 
ciples of  Jesus,  doing  evil  to  no   one,  would  be  persecuted 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  627 

only  by  the  wicked.  The  disciples  of  die  world,  on  the  con- 
trary, are  likely  to  be  persecuted  by  every  one,  since  the  law 
of  the  disciples  of  the  world  is  the  law  of  each  for  himself,  the 
law  of  struggle  ;   that  is,  of  mutual  persecution. 

Moreover,  the  disciples  of  Jesus  would  be  prepared  for 
suffering,  while  the  disciples  of  the  world  use  all  possible 
means  to  avoid  suffering ;  the  disciples  of  Jesus  would  feel 
that  their  sufferings  were  useful  to  the  world,  but  the  disciples 
of  the  world  do  not  know  why  they  suffer.  On  abstract 
grounds,  then,  the  condition  of  the  disciples  of  Jesus  would 
be  more  advantageous  than  that  of  the  disciples  of  the  world. 
But  is  it  so  in  reality  ?  To  answer  this,  let  each  one  call  to 
mind  all  the  painful  moments  of  his  life,  all  the  physical  and 
moral  sufferings  that  he  has  endured,  and  let  him  ask  himself 
if  he  has  suffered  these  calamities  in  behalf  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  world,  or  in  behalf  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus.  Every  sincere 
man  will  find,  in  recalling  his  past  life,  that  he  has  never  once 
suffered  for  practising  the  doctrine  of  Jesus.  He  will  find 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  misfortunes  of  his  life  have  resulted 
from  his  following  the  doctrines  of  the  world. 

In  my  own  life  (an  exceptionally  happy  one  from  a  w^orldly 
point  of  view),  I  can  reckon  up  as  much  suffering  caused 
by  following  the  doctrine  of  the  world,  as  many  a  mart}T  has 
endured  for  the  doctrine  of  Jesus.  All  the  most  painful 
moments  of  my  life,  —  the  orgies  and  duels  in  which  I  took 
part  as  a  student,  the  wars  in  which  I  have  participated,  the 
diseases  that  I  have  endured,  and  the  abnormal  and  insup- 
portable conditions  under  which  I  now  live,  —  all  these  are 
only  so  much  martyrdom  exacted  by  fidelity  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  world.  But  I  speak  of  a  life  exceptionally  happy  from  a 
w^orldly  point  of  view.  How  many  mart}Ts  have  suffered  for 
the  doctrine  of  the  world,  torments  which  I  should  find 
difficulty  in  enumerating ! 

We  do  not  realize  the  difficulties  and  dangers  entailed  by 
the  practice  of  the  doctrine  of  the  world,  simply  because  we 
are  persuaded  that  we  could  not  do  otherwise  than  follow  that 


628  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

doctrine.  We  are  persuaded  that  all  the  calamities  that  we 
inflict  upon  ourselves  are  the  result  of  the  inevitable  condi- 
tions of  life  ;  and  we  cannot  understand  that  the  doctrine  of 
Jesus  teaches  us  how  we  may  rid  ourselves  of  these  calamities, 
and  render  our  lives  happy.  To  be  able  to  reply  to  the  ques- 
tion, Which  of  these  two  conditions  is  the  happier?  we  must, 
at  least  for  the  time  being,  put  aside  our  prejudices,  and  take 
a  careful  survey  of  our  surroundings. 

Go  through  our  great  cities,  and  observe  the  emaciated, 
sickly,  and  distorted  specimens  of  humanity  to  be  found 
therein  ;  recall  your  own  existence,  and  that  of  all  the  people 
with  whose  lives  you  are  familiar;  recall  the  instances  of  vio- 
lent deaths  and  suicides  of  which  you  have  heard  :  and  then 
ask  yourself  for  what  cause  all  this  suffering  and  death,  this 
despair  that  leads  to  suicide,  has  been  endured.  You  will 
find,  perhaps  to  your  surprise,  that  nine-tenths  of  all  human 
suffering  endured  by  men  is  useless,  and  ought  not  to  exist ; 
that,  in  fact,  the  majority  of  men  are  martyrs  to  the  doctrine 
of  the  world. 

If  the  practice  of  the  doctrine  of  the  world  were  easy, 
agreeable,  and  without  clanger,  we  might  perhaps  believe 
that  the  practice  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  difficult,  frightful, 
and  cruel.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  world  is  much  more  diffi- 
cult, more  dangerous,  and  more  cruel,  than  is  the  doctrine 
of  Jesus.  Formerly,  we  are  told,  there  were  martyrs  to  the 
cause  of  Jesus  ;  but  they  were  exceptional.  We  cannot  count 
up  more  than  about  three  hundred  and  eighty  thousand  of 
them,  voluntary  and  involuntary,  in  the  whole  course  of  eigh- 
teen hundred  years;  but  who  shall  count  the  martyrs  to  the 
doctrine  of  the  world  ?  For  each  Christian  martyr  there  have 
been  a  thousand  martyrs  to  the  doctrine  of  the  w^orld  ;  and 
the  sufferings  of  each  one  of  them  have  been  a  hundred  limes 
rpore  cruel  than  those  enduretl  by  the  others.  The  number 
of  the  victims  of  wars  in  our  century  alone  amounts  to  thirty 
millions  of  men.  These  are  the  martyrs  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  world,  who  would  have  escaped  suffering  and  death  even 


i 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  629 

if  they  had  refused  to  follow  the  doctrine  of  the  world,  to  say 
nothing  of  following  the  doctrine  of  Jesus. 

The  doctrine  of  Jesus  does  not  exact  martyrdom  similar 
to  that  of  the  doctrine  of  the  world  :  it  teaches  us,  rather, 
how  to  put  an  end  to  the  sufferings  that  men  endure  in  the 
name  of  the  false  doctrine  of  the  world.  The  doctrine  of 
Jesus  has  a  profound  metaphysical  meaning;  it  has  a  meaning 
as  an  expression  of  the  aspirations  of  humanity  :  but  it  has 
also  for  each  individual  a  very  simple,  very  clear,  and  very 
practical  meaning  with  regard  to  the  conduct  of  his  own  life. 
In  fact,  we  might  say  that  Jesus  taught  men  not  to  do  foolish 
things.  The  meaning  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  simple  and 
accessible  to  all,   .  .   . 

Like  the  insensible  ether  filling  universal  space,  envel- 
oping all  created  things,  so  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  inevitable 
for  every  man,  in  whatever  situation  he  may  be  found.  Men 
cannot  refuse  to  recognize  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  ;  they  may 
deny  the  metaphysical  explanation  of  life  which  it  gives  (we 
may  deny  every  thing)  ;  but  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  alone  ofters 
rules  for  the  conduct  of  life,  without  which  humanity  has 
never  lived,  and  never  will  be  able  to  live,  —  without  which 
no  human  being  has  lived  or  can  live,  if  he  would  live  as 
man  should  live,  —  a  reasonable  life.  The  power  of  the 
doctrine  of  Jesus  is  not  in  its  explanation  of  the  meaning  of 
life,  but  in  the  rules  that  it  gives  for  the  conduct  of  life.  The 
metaphysical  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  not  new  ;  it  is  that  eternal 
doctrine  of  humanity  inscribed  in  all  the  hearts  of  men,  and 
preached  by  all  the  prophets  of  all  the  ages.  The  power  of 
the  doctrine  of  Jesus  is  in  the  application  of  this  metaphysical 
doctrine  to  life.   .   .   . 

Men  are  united  by  error  into  a  compact  mass.  The  pre- 
vailing power  of  evil  is  the  cohesive  force  that  binds  them 
together.  The  reasonable  activity  of  humanity  is  to  destroy 
the  cohesive  power  of  evil.  Revolutions  are  attempts  to 
shatter  the  power  of  evil  by  violence.  Men  think  that  by 
hammering  upon  the  mass,  they  will  be  able  to  break  it  in 


630  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

fragments  ;  but  they  only  make  it  more  dense  and  imperme- 
able than  it  was  before.  External  violence  is  of  no  avail. 
The  disruptive  movement  must  come  from  within,  when  mole- 
cule releases  its  hold  upon  molecule,  and  the  whole  mass 
falls  into  disintegration.  Error  is  the  force  that  welds  men 
too-ether :  truth  alone  can  set  them  free.  Now,  truth  is  truth 
only  when  it  is  in  action,  and  then  only  can  it  be  transmitted 
from  man  to  man.  Only  truth  in  action,  by  introducing  light 
into  the  conscience  of  each  individual,  can  dissolve  the 
homogeneity  of  error,  and  detach  men  one  by  one  from  its 
bonds. 

This  work  has  been  going  on  for  eighteen  hundred  years. 
It  began  when  the  commandments  of  Jesus  were  first  given 
to  humanity;  and  it  will  not  cease  till,  as  Jesus  said,  ''all 
things  be  accomplishedy  The  Church  that  sought  to  detach 
men  from  error,  and  to  weld  them  together  again  by  the 
solemn  affirmation  that  it  alone  was  the  truth,  has  long  since 
fallen  to  decay.  But  the  Church  composed  of  men  united 
not  by  promises  or  sacraments,  but  by  deeds  of  truth  and 
love,  has  always  lived,  and  will  live  forever.  Now,  as  eigh- 
teen hundred  years  ago,  this  Church  is  made  up  not  of  those 
who  say  "  Lord,  Lord,"  and  bring  forth  iniquity,  but  of 
those  who  hear  the  words  of  truth,  and  reveal  them  in  their 
lives.  The  members  of  this  Church  know^  that  life  is  to  them 
a  blessing  as  long  as  they  maintain  fraternity  with  others, 
and  dwell  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Son  of  man  ;  and  that  the 
blessing  will  be  lost  only  to  those  who  do  not  obey  the  com- 
mandments of  Jesus.  And  so  the  members  of  this  Church 
practise  the  commandments  of  Jesus,  and  thereby  teach  them 
to  odiers.  Whether  this  Church  be  in  numbers  little  or 
great,  it  is,  nevertheless,  the  Church  that  shall  not  perish,  the 
Church  that  shall  finally  unite  within  its  bonds  the  hearts  of 
all  mankind. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  63 1 

THE    GOSPEL    FOR   THE    NINETEENTH    CENTURY. 

[London:   1S80.     Pp.  1-4,  8-1  o,  49-60.] 

The  power  of  example  is  so  well  known,  that  to  those 
who  believe  in  a  God  and  in  his  providential  government  of 
the  world,  it  must  seem  reasonable  that  he  should  teach  men 
by  the  force  of  example.  If  God  had  a  purpose  in  creating 
man,  and  if  that  purpose  were  the  formation  of  a  being  capa- 
ble of  moral  improvement,  it  would  seem  reasonable  that  he 
should  watch  over  the  moral  development  of  the  race,  should 
train  and  educate  it.  In  doing  this,  he  would  doubtless  make 
use  of  the  means  best  suited  to  the  end.  Having  given  man 
a  moral  nature  impressible  by  the  force  of  example,  he  w^ould 
make  use  of  this  force  to  educate  his  moral  nature. 

There  are  some  few  men  so  elevated  above  the  ordinary 
level  of  humanity,  that  we  may  well  believe  that  they  were 
specially  designed  to  raise  others  by  their  example. 

History  has  enshrined  the  names  and  the  memory  of  some 
of  these.  But  there  must  have  been  many  others  who,  in 
their  day,  had  equal  claims  to  the  reverence  of  their  fellow- 
men,  of  whom  no  record  has  been  preserved,  who  lived  and 
died  unknown  to  fame.  Yet  even  the  most  humble  of  these 
cannot  have  failed  to  exercise  some  influence  upon  those  with 
whom  they  were  brought  into  contact.  Such  is  the  inherent 
power  of  goodness,  when  seen  in  a  living  example,  that  men 
are  constrained  either  to  love  or  to  hate  it.  It  has  a  mag- 
netic power  to  attract  or  to  repel,  according  to  the  positive 
or  negative  moral  condition  of  those  w^ho  are  brought  within 
the  sphere  of  its  influence.  But  this  sphere  is  limited.  Men 
must  be  brought  into  contact  with  goodness ;  the  living 
example  must  be  before  their  eyes,  or  they  will  not  feel  its 
power.  When  death  removes  the  example,  it  is  as  when  the 
magnetic  current  is  cut  off;  that  which  has  been  a  living 
force  is  felt  to  be  so  no  longer.  For  a  few  short  years  the 
personal  influence  of  the  departed  is  felt  among  those  with 


632  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

whom  they  hved.  In  the  next  generation,  if  their  memory 
remain  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  their  countrymen,  it  is  Httle 
more  than  a  name  which  remains.  They  may  have  a  place 
in  the  Pantheon.  Perhaps,  now  and  then,  their  patriotism  or 
their  valor  may  be  used  by  the  orator  to  excite  others  to 
emulate  their  virtues ;  but  beyond,  the  influence  of  their 
example  does  not  extend.  It  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  The 
marble  bust  of  the  departed  is  not  more  different  from  the 
living  man  than  is  the  example  of  the  dead  from  that  of 
the  living. 

Such,  then,  being  the  transitory  nature  of  the  influence 
exercised  by  the  greatest  and  best  of  those  whose  names  live 
in  the  hearts  of  nations,  it  is  clear  that  if  any  great  and  lasting 
influence  is  to  be  produced  by  the  force  of  example  upon  the 
race  at  large,  it  can  only  be  in  one  or  other  of  the  following 
ways :  either  by  a  perpetual  succession  of  individual  exam- 
ples, numerous  enough  to  influence  every  sphere  of  human 
life  ;  or  by  one  example  lifted  up  before  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  visible  to  every  sphere  of  life,  and  made  living  to  all 
aoes. 

Now,  we  are  not  in  a  position  to  say,  on  a  priori  grounds, 
which  of  these  two  methods  would  be  the  most  successful. 
But  we  are  in  a  position  to  say,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  there 
has  been  one  life,  and  only  one,  which  has  fulfilled  the  last- 
named  conditions  ;  there  has  been  one  example  which  has 
been  lifted  up  before  the  eyes  of  men  in  every  sphere  of  life, 
and  which  has  been  made  living  to  all  ages.   .   .  . 

We  are  not  now  inquiring  how  this  is  to  be  accounted  for. 
At  this  moment  we  merely  point  to  the  fact.  We  say  that 
this  fact  stands  without  parallel  in  the  history  of  the  human 
race.  When  Socrates  and  Antoninus  died,  their  example 
died  with  them.  When  jesus  of  Nazareth  died,  his  example 
did  not  die.  So  far  was  his  example  from  perishing  when 
he  died,  that  it  was  then  that  it  became  a  more  living  influ- 
ence than  ever.  During  his  life  he  was  followed  by  a  band 
of  disciples,  who    loved    him  and  listened  reverently  to  his 


TO  JESOS   OF  NAZARETH.  6^^^^ 

teaching.  But  his  example  seemed  too  far  above  their  heads 
to  be  followed  to  any  extent.  The  histories  of  his  life  repre- 
sent them  as  very  unlike  him  in  every  way  ;  they  were  weak, 
simple-minded  men,  with  the  ordinary  faults  of  human  nature. 
Their  one  distinoruishinsf  characteristic  seems  to  have  been 
a  sincere  affection  and  reverence  for  him.  They  believed 
in  him  as  the  Christ ;  but  we  can  trace  no  likeness  to  him  in 
them  at  any  time.  It  was  not  so  after  his  death.  At  first 
that  event  put  an  end  to  all  spiritual  life  and  hope  in  them. 
But  a  little  while  passed,  and  every  thing  was  changed.  They 
grew  like  him.  They  were  literally  new  men.  It  is  not  too 
much  to  say,  that  they  were  transformed  into  his  likeness. 
The  virtues  of  his  life  were  reproduced  in  them  ;  his  example 
had  become  a  living  influence  to  them.  And  not  only  to 
them,  but  also  through  them  to  thousands  who  had  never 
seen  his   face. 

And  from  that  day  to  this,  his  example  has  been  a  living 
influence  among  men.  "Through  the  darkest  and  most  cor- 
rupt periods  Christianity  has  raised  this  torch  on  high,  —  has 
kept  this  object  of  veneration  and  imitation  before  the  eyes  of 
men."  Here  is  a  fact  which  demands  attention.  There  are 
some  who  cannot  receive  the  statement  of  his  biographers 
that  he  rose  from  the  dead,  who  are  themselves  witnesses  to 
the  fact  that  his  example  has  risen  from  the  dead.  This  is  a 
resurrection  as  exceptional  as  that  of  the  body.  That  the 
influence  of  example  should  survive  the  grave,  should  remain 
a  living  influence  indestructible  by  those  laws  of  decay  and 
oblivion  which  sweep  all  things  human  before  them,  is  a  fact 
which,  from  whatever  cause  it  may  arise,  stands  alone  in  the 
history  of  man.   .   .   . 

The  lowliness  of  Christ  Is  seen  in  striking  relief  side  by 
side  with  another  characteristic.  No  one  can  read  the  Gospels 
attentively  without  being  struck  by  the  consciousness  which 
he  invariably  feels  of  his  divine  authority  and  mission.  It 
has  been  well  remarked  by  Channing,  than  whom  no  one  has 
written  on  the  character  of  Christ  more  beautifully  and  forci- 


634  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

bly,  that  though  "  he  makes  no  set  harangue  about  the  grand- 
eur of  his  office  and  character,  yet  the  consciousness  of  it 
gives  a  hue  to  his  whole  language,  breaks  out  in  indirect, 
undesigned  expressions,  showing  that  it  was  the  deepest  and 
most  familiar  of  his  convictions."  The  consciousness  of  his 
divine  mission,  of  his  relation  to  the  whole  human  race,  and 
of  his  still  closer  relation  to  the  Father,  is  seen  in  all  that  he 
said  and  did.  Yet  with  this  consciousness,  strong  even  in 
boyhood,  he  is  content  to  pass  thirty  years  or  more  of  his  life 
in  obscurity,  fulfilling  the  duties  of  the  humble  station  in  which 
he  was  born,  known  only  among  men  as  the  carpenter  of 
Nazareth.  He  who  had  come  to  reveal  God  to  man  —  in 
whose  breast  glowed  the  consciousness  of  a  divine  mission  to 
the  world  —  was  content  to  live  for  thirty  years  in  retirement, 
obscurity,  and  humble  toil.  And  why?  Because  his  mission 
was  not  only  to  reveal  God  to  man,  but  also  at  the  same  time 
to  set  before  man  a  perfect  human  example.  During  the 
three  years  of  his  public  ministry  he  taught,  speaking  as  never 
man  spake.  But  more  eloquent  still  are  those  thirty  years  of 
silence.  Even  his  lips  could  not  teach  the  sacredness  of  life's 
duties,  the  dignity  of  labor,  and  the  loveliness  of  humility,  so 
eloquently  or  divinely  as  the  silent  example  of  those  thirty 
years  spent  in  the  cottage  and  the  carpenter's  workshop  at 
Nazareth. 

We  would  fain  have  known  more  of  the  life  of  jesus  at 
Nazareth  ;  but  enough  is  told  to  show  us  that  it  was  in  every 
respect  a  real  human  life,  with  the  same  lights  and  shadows, 
the  same  trials  and  discipline,  which  mark  our  own  lives,  save 
that  it  was  not  darkened  to  him  by  any  sins  of  his  own,  as  our 
lives  are.  It  is  very  necessary  that  we  should  realize  the  fact, 
that,  with  this  exception,  his  life  during  all  those  years  was 
as  the  life  of  any  other  man.  In  his  public  ministry  we  see 
him  wielding  extraordinary  power,  and  enduring  extraordinary 
trials.  I  lere  we  see  him  livincr  amoncj  men  as  one  of  them- 
selves,  without  any  exercise  of  supernatural  power,  performing 
the  lowliest  duties,  and  bearing  the  most  ordinary  trials  of  daily 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  635 

life.  We  know  not  what  these  trials  of  his  life  were,  but  this 
is  comparatively  unimportant  to  us  ;  that  which  is  important 
for  us  is  to  know  that  his  life  in  the  cottage,  in  the  workshop, 
and  in  the  village  of  Nazareth,  among  his  kinsfolk  and  his 
neighbors,  was  not  more  free  from  daily  trials  than  our  lives 
commonly  are.  This  may  be  difficult  to  realize,  but  it  is  not 
for  that  reason  any  the  less  true  ;  and  in  proportion  as  we 
realize  it,  shall  we  understand  the  perfection  of  his  example. 

One  trial  we  know  that  he  must  have  had.  His  life  in  its 
deepest  moods  must  have  been  solitary.  Notwithstanding 
the  closeness  of  the  tie  between  the  mother  and  the  son,  there 
must  have  been  that  in  him  which,  with  all  her  reverence,  she 
could  not  understand,  with  all  her  love  she  was  unable  to 
sympathize  with.  We  know  how  great  a  trial  it  is  to  one 
possessing  a  very  gifted  mind,  to  live  with  those  whose  mental 
powers  are  vastly  inferior.  The  man  who  is  altogether  in 
advance  of  his  age  lives  a  solitary  and  often  an  unhappy  life. 
He  is  not  understood,  and  meets  with  little  sympathy.  So  in 
a  pre-eminent  degree  it  must  have  been  with  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth. In  dwelling,  as  we  are  accustomed  to  do,  upon  his 
moral  perfections,  we  must  not  overlook  the  superiority  of  his 
intellectual  endowments.  If  ever  man  was  possessed  of 
transcendent  powers  of  mind,  it  was  the  son  of  Mary.  The 
wonderful  originality  of  his  mind  strikes  even  those  who  do 
not  believe  in  his  divine  mission.  This  transcendent  mental 
superiority  must  have  brought  with  it  more  than  the  usual 
penalty.  He  must  have  been  in  many  things  alone,  even  in 
the  home  which  was  brightened  by  a  mother's  love  ;  how  much 
more  among  the  peasants  and  the  artisans  of  despised 
Nazareth  ! 

And  for  thirty  years  of  his  life  it  was  thus  that  he  lived  ! 
He,  the  greatest  and  the  most  highly  gifted  of  the  sons  of 
men,  of  whom  even  an  unbeliever  confesses  that  in  him 
"  there  is  a  stamp  of  personal  originality,  combined  with  pro- 
fundity of  insight,  which  must  place  him  in  the  very  first  rank 
of  the  men  of  sublime  genius  of  whom  our  species  can  boast." 


636  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

This  is  the  lowest  view  of  his  character :  ,yet,  even  v/hen  it  is 
seen  from  this  point  of  view,  how  wonderful  was  that  life  of 
lowly  toil !  And  when  we  contemplate  his  character  from  the 
higher  and  truer  point  of  view,  when  we  call  to  mind  that  to 
this  acknowledged  mental  superiority  he  added  the  conscious- 
ness of  a  divine  mission  to  the  world,  the  life  of  those  thirty 
years  stands  before  us  a  marvel  of  unequalled,  inconceivable 
lowliness.  To  the  High  and  Holy  One  who  dwells  with  the 
humble  of  heart,-  what  sacrifice  could  be  more  acceptable  ? 

It  may  perhaps  be  thought  that  the  humility  of  Christ 
does  not  sufficiently  account  for  the  lowly  station  which  he 
filled,  since  a  high  station  in  the  w^orld  is  not  inconsistent  with 
deep  humility.  But  it  is  obvious  that  only  thus  could  he  have 
personally  reached  the  mass  of  the  people  whom  it  was  his 
object  to  influence  during  his  ministry.  Nothing  so  divides 
man  from  man  as  caste ;  therefore  he  chose  the  lowest  station, 
that  no  such  artificial  barrier  should  come  between  himself 
and  the  lowest  of  those  he  came  to  teach.  It  was  fitting,  too, 
that  he,  whose  mission  it  was  to  be  the  example  of  all  men, 
should  occupy  such  a  position  in  life.  The  greater  number 
of  the  human  race  must  in  all  ages  live  by  the  labor  of  their 
hands ;  it  was  necessary,  therefore,  that  he  too  should  lead  a 
life  of  toil,  and  should  know  by  experience  its  usual  accom- 
paniments,—  poverty  and  hardship.  He  could  not  have  been 
the  laboring  man's  example  if  he  had  not  done  so.  He  has 
shown  that  it  is  possible  to  live  in  uninterrupted  communion 
with  God  in  the  midst  of  a  life  of  bodily  toil.  Moreover,  it 
was  needful  for  the  rich  that  he  should  occupy  this  position 
in  life,  since  nothing  could  show  better  the  emptiness  of  all 
merely  worldly  distinctions.  He  did  not  do  away  with  those 
distinctions  of  rank  which  are  of  God's  ordering ;  but,  in 
taking  the  lowest  rank,  he  gave  a  death-blow  to  that  pride 
of  caste  which  is  directly  opposed  to  the  spirit  of  true 
brotherly  love. 

The  lesson  of  unworKllincss  is  one  of  the  most  imi)ortant 
lessons  for  men  of  all  ranks  to  learn.     The  example  of  Christ 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  6^,^ 

teaches  this  lesson  in  perfection.  Few  faults  are  more 
common,  even  in  religious  persons,  than  worldliness.  Indeed, 
there  is  a  kind  of  religion  which  finds  it  possible  to  reconcile 
Christianity  with  an  extreme  degree  of  worldliness.  No 
worldliness  is  so  intense  as  religious  worldliness  ;  no  pride  is 
so  intense  as  spiritual  pride  :  yet  both  are  found  among  those 
who  call  themselves  followers  of  him  whose  distino-uishinp- 
characteristics  were  his  utter  un worldliness  and  his  deep 
lowliness  of  heart  ! 

The  only  marked  feature,  then,  of  the  first  thirty  years  of 
the  life  of  Christ,  as  recorded  in  the  Gospels,  is  its  lowliness. 
Nor  when  he  left  the  seclusion  of  his  humble  home,  and  entered 
upon  his  public  ministry,  did  he  lay  aside  that  lowliness  of  life. 
"  Never  for  a  moment  falling  below  the  dignity  of  his  high 
claims,"  he  yet  lived  the  same  unostentatious,  simple,  humble 
life  as  before.  He  assumed  no  outward  state,  ever  shrank 
from  display,  refused  to  have  earthly  greatness  thrust  upon 
him,  did  not  even  exchange  his  simple  peasant's  robe  for  the 
garb  of  the  prophet,  but  lived  with  disciples  (chosen  from  a 
humble  rank)  as  one  of  themselves,  travelling  with  them  on 
foot,  or  sailing  in  their  fishing-boat ;  sharing  their  fare  ;  having 
no  settled  home,  not  even  where  to  lay  his  head  ;  often  sleeping 
with  them  upon  the  ground  ;  willingly  accepting  the  hospi- 
tality of  the  poorest  and  most  despised  ;  sitting  in  their 
homes  ;  teaching  by  the  wayside,  in  the  street,  by  the  sea- 
shore ;  not  disdaining  the  society  of  the  outcast ;  eating  with 
sinners ;  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  no  cry  for  help,  it  mattered  not 
from  whom  ;  owning  every  man  as  a  brother ;  caring  most  for 
those  who  were  uncared  for  ;  refusing  no  toil ;  shrinking  from 
no  touch  ;  heeding  no  obloquy  ;  dreading  no  contamination  ; 
stooping  to  the  level  of  the  lowest,  that  he  might  raise  them ; 
becoming  the  servant  of  all,  that  he  might  cleanse  them. 

Such  was  his  life  throughout  his  ministry,  strikingly  and 
beautifully  illustrated  by  almost  his  last  act  of  loving  farewell 
to  his  apostles  on  the  evening  before  his  death,  when,  their 
last  meal  together  being  ended,  "  he  rose,  and  having  laid 


638  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

aside  his  garments,  and  girded  himself  with  a  towel,"  he 
kneeled  beside  them,  and  performed  the  lowliest  act  of  per- 
sonal service  that  one  can  perform  for  another.  "  He  poureth 
water  into  a  basin,  and  began  to  wash  the  disciples'  feet,  and 
to  wipe  them  with  the  towel  wherewith  he  was  girded." 

We  know  not  which  touches  us  most,  the  tenderness  of 
this  last  act  of  personal  service,  or  the  unspeakable  lowliness 
of  it.  There  was  a  deep  significance  in  both.  What  could 
be  more  touching  and  beautiful  than  this  farewell,  since  the 
feet  which  he  washed  had  trodden  for  three  years  with  him 
the  weary  and  toilsome  way  ?  And  now  that  he  and  they 
are  to  be  fellow-travellers  no  longer,  he  would  cleanse  and 
bless  the  feet  which  had  followed  in  his  steps.  And  what 
could  be  more  significant  as  a  lesson  of  humility,  since  he  did 
not  except  from  this  last  labor  of  love  even  the  feet  which 
had  followed  only  to  betray  him  ?  Faithful  picture  of  his 
ministry,  truest  emblem  of  his  character,  in  which  lowliness 
and  love  met  together  in  their  perfection  ! 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  features  in  the  life  of  Christ 
is,  that,  notwithstanding  his  lofty  claims,  he  should  have  left 
to  us  this  example  of  perfect  humility.  If  we  had  not  his 
life  before  us,  we  migrht  have  thought  that  the  two  thino-s 
were  wholly  incom.patible.  But  here  we  see  the  extraordinary 
union  of  conscious  and  transcendent  greatness  with  deep 
humility.  It  is  not  only  that  we  see  lowliness  of  life.  This 
outward  lowliness  betokened  inward  lowliness ;  it  was  the 
true  expression  of  a  lowly  heart,  for  true  humility  shows 
itself  in  a  desire  to  avoid  all  personal  exaltation.  The 
dislike  of  Christ  to  all  personal  display  is  a  very  marked 
feature  in  his  character.  He  was  obliged  to  place  himself 
prominently  before  the  eyes  of  men  ;  yet,  in  doing  this,  he 
never  laid  aside  his  lowliness,  he  never  sacrificed  his  humility. 
He  told  men  that  he  was  their  Example,  their  Master,  their 
Lord  ;  yet  he  remained  ever  their  servant,  not  in  name,  but 
in  very  deed  and  truth.  It  was  a  wonderful  union,  which 
illustrates,  perhaps  better  than  any  thing  else,  the  extraordi- 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  639 

nary  perfection  of  his  example.  Self-assertion  was  a  necessity 
of  his  position,  yet  self-abasement  was  the  rule  of  his  life. 
He  declared  himself  to  be  the  perfect  example,  yet  he  made 
himself  of  no  reputation. 

We  see,  then,  in  the  life  of  Christ,  a  convincing-  proof  of 
his  lowliness  of  heart.  He  was,  without  doubt,  perfectly 
humble-minded.  If  it  be  asked  how  a  humble  mind  could 
be  consistent  with  such  a  consciousness  of  greatness  as  he 
manilested,  the  answer  is  at  once  suggested  by  his  own 
repeated  declarations  that  his  goodness  was  not  his  own. 
He  distinctly  referred  the  glory  of  all  that  he  had,  and  all 
that  he  did,  to  the  Father.  The  words  that  he  spake,  the 
works  that  he  did,  were  not  his,  but  the  Father  s  who  sent  him. 
He  was  a  perfect  man,  but  the  perfection  of  the  creature  is 
derived  from  the  Creator.  This  excludes  all  ground  for  pride 
in  every  human  being.  It  is  the  true  foundation  of  humility, 
and  it  was  clearly  the  foundation  of  Christ's  humility.  The 
perfection  of  the  creature  is  to  refer  all  perfection  to  the 
Creator.  It  was  in  this  that  Christ's  perfection  as  man  was 
shown  ;  for  pride  is  essentially  an  imperfection.  Other  men 
are  proud  because  they  are  imperfect.  He  was  perfect,  and 
therefore  humble.  His  perfect  humility  was  the  highest  mark 
of  his  perfection.  What  better  reproof  of  human  pride  can 
there  be  than  this,  —  the  only  perfect  man  zvas  Jinmble  f 

And  what  could  so  forcibly  recommend  this  virtue  to  the 
Christian  ?  There  are  some  virtues  which  need  nothing  to 
recommend  them,  and  which  most  of  us  would  like  to  possess; 
but  humility  is  not  one  of  them.  We  like  it  in  others,  but 
we  do  not  care  to  possess  it  ourselves.  It  needs,  therefore, 
something  to  commend  it  to  us  ;  and  it  finds  the  highest 
commendation  here  :  it  was  seen  in  perfection  in  Christ. 

There  are  some  jewels  which  are  so  brilliant  that  they  are 
worn  for  the  sake  of  their  beauty.  There  are  others  which 
we  do  not  care  to  wear  on  account  of  their  beauty,  but 
because  they  were  worn  by  some  departed  friend  who  was 
very  dear  to  us :  these  have  a  value  beyond  all  price.     Such 


640  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

a  gem  is  humility.  It  may  not  be  attractive  enough  in  our 
eyes  to  make  us  eager  to  possess  it ;  it  is  not  a  showy  virtue  ; 
it  does  not  catch  the  light,  or  glitter  and  sparkle  before  our 
eyes :  yet  it  should  be  dear  to  every  Christian.  It  should  be 
sought  after  and  prized  and  loved,  for  it  was  worn  on  the 
heart  of  Jesus  ;  and  he  has  bidden  his  disciples  prize  it  and 
wear  it  for  his  sake. 


MARK    EVANS. 

[The  Gospel  of  Home  Life.     London:  1877.     Pp.  47-50,  71,  204-210.] 

The  consciousness  of  One  better  than  the  best  conceivable 
seems  never  to  have  deserted  man  ;  if  it  ever  should  do  so, 
religion  will  cease  to  exist.  When,  for  One  better  than  the  best 
conceivable,  man  substitutes  tJie  best  lie  knows,  his  aspirations 
must  need  be  short-lived,  and  the  seen  and  temporal  will 
satisfy  his  every  craving.  Jesus,  as  the  objective  revelation 
of  the  Father,  laid  claim  to  the  same  universality  as  had 
marked  the  subjective  revelation.  He  was  the  light  of  the 
world ;  he  was  to  draw  all  men  unto  him.  His  claim  to 
universality  is  therefore  a  stamp  of  truth.  It  was  a  thing 
foreign  to  the  teachers  of  the  great  religions  of  the  world. 
An  influence  over  all  men,  a  kingdom  established  in  the 
hearts  of  all  men,  are  conceptions  of  Jesus,  and  none  other, 
and  are  in  harmony  with  the  universal  consciousness. 

And  yet  another  conception  is  his,  and  only  his  ;  viz.,  that 
the  glory  of  the  revelation  was  to  belong  to  every  brotJier  and 
sister  of  his.  His  own  ideal  was  the  ideal  which  he  set  before 
each  one  of  us,  —  "  Be  ye  perfect,  as  your  Father  in  heaven 
is  perfect."  His  it  was  to  manifest  that  perfection,  attained 
through  unimpaired  communion  with  the  ideal ;  ours  it  is  to 
pant  and  strive  after  it.  In  ever-faithful  souls  does  the 
brightness  of  his  glory  grow.  Even  here  they  are  a  faint 
image  of  him,  the  light  of  the  world  ;  yet  a  little  while,  and 
they  shall  be  like  him,  for  they  shall  see  him  as  he  is.     The 


"BEHOLD,   1   STAND    AT    THE   DOOR   AND    KNOCK.'^ 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  64 1 

glory  that  excelleth  shall  be  their  ever  drawing  nearer  and  yet 
nearer  to  that  eternal  iincreate  ideal  of  whom  Jesus  was  the 
earthly  manifestation.  The  knowledge,  that  in  their  human 
nature  there  has  been  that  manifestation,  becomes  to  them  a 
source  of  strength  and  hope ;  but  for  themselves,  the  nearer 
they  grow  into  that  likeness,  the  more  are  they  conscious  of 
their  distance  from  it.  For  them  there  is  the  everlasting  joy, 
wifuljillcd  aspiration,  because  the  ideal  of  Jesus  w^as  One 
better  than  the  best  they  caji  co7iceive.  Filled  with  their  ideal, 
yet  never  containing  him,  they  shall  wake  up  after  his  likeness, 
and  be  satisfied  with  it.  To  deny  the  existence  of  purified 
souls,  were  to  disregard  the  words  of  Jesus.  Many  there  are 
on  earth  who  are  to  us  as  stars  in  a  night  of  weary  waiting 
for  the  moon  :  many  more  there  must  be  in  the  w^orld  beyond 
the  seen,  whose  light,  like  that  of  some  of  the  far-off  suns, 
has  not  yet  reached  us  ;  and  thinking  of  them,  we  can  with 
a  deeper  meaning  use  the  poet's  words,  as  he  gazed  on  the 
fair  creation  :  — 

"  O  God,  O  good  beyond  compare  ! 
If  thus  thy  meaner  works  are  fair, 
How  glorious  must  those  mansions  be, 
Where  thy  redeemed  shall  dwell  with  thee  ! " 

But  we  see  not  any  other  than  Jesus,  who  is  the  perfected 
manifestation  of  the  way  unto  the  Father.  Search  from  the 
greatest  of  ancient  religious  teachers  to  the  least,  —  they 
give,  some  of  them,  an  almost  perfect  system  of  ethics  ;  but 
it  was  not  for  a  perfect  system  that  the  spirit  of  humanity 
w^as  craving.  A  new  and  living  way  unto  the  Father  w^as 
what  was  hung-ered  and  thirsted  for ;  and  from  Zoroaster  to 
Comte,  there  has  been  but  One  who  has  offered  himself 
to  man,  claiming  to  be  the  bread  which  came  down  from 
heaven,  and  the  water  of  which  if  a  man  drinketh  he  shall 
never  thirst. 

The  complete  answer  to  the  difficulty  we  are  considering 
is  given  us  by  Jesus  himself:   "None  \i2L's>  full  knowledge  of 


642  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

the  Father,  save  the  Son."  No  one  but  the  perfect  Son  can 
know  perfectly  the  Father.  To  be  conscious  of  the  Father  is 
the  birthright  of  us  all,  as  sons  of  God.  It  is  just  because 
we  are  sons,  that  the  Spirit  within  us  teaches  us  to  call  upon 
the  Eternal  as  our  Father.  An  ever-growing  knowledge  of 
him  is  the  hope  of  the  present  and  the  hereafter ;  but  a 
perfected  knowledge,  as  will  be  seen  presently,  it  can  never  be 
ours  to  possess.  The  unimpaired  consciousness  which  Jesus 
had,  and  his  unswerving  loyalty  to  the  consciousness,  is  the 
answer  to  the  high  priest's  question,  "  Art  thou  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  Blessed  ? "  .  .  . 

The  success  of  Christianity  cannot  be  attributed  merely 
to  its  ethics,  for  these  were  not  new.  Jesus  appealed  to  the 
old  revelation,  made  aforetime  through  the  religious  sense  in 
mankind  ;  a  revelation  not  only  inspiring  conduct,  but  becom- 
ing its  guide.  "  If  thine  enemy  hunger,"  said  Jesus,  "  feed 
him."  "  If  a  man  does  me  wrong,"  was  the  teaching  of 
Sakya-Mouni,  "  I  will  return  him  the  protection  of  my  love  ; 
the  more  evil  comes  from  him,  the  more  good  shall  go  from 
me."  "  Love  your  enemies,  and  bless  them  which  persecute 
you,"  was  the  first  and  last  word  of  the  ideal  Son.  "  Let  every 
thorn  which  people  sow  in  thy  path,  bloom  in  the  lustre  of 
thy  smile,"  is  the  maxim  of  the  Persian  poet.  How  comes  it, 
that,  while  the  voice  of  Jesus  is  soundirfg  throughout  the 
earth,  the  voices  of  those  who  aforetime  were  among  the 
greatest  prophets  born  of  women,  whisper  fainter  and  ever 
fainter?  How  comes  it,  that  within  hearing  of  the  one  the  deaf 
hear,  the  blind  see,  and  the  dead  are  raised  ;  and  that  the 
others  fall  unheeded,  and  half  intelligible,  on  ears  that  are 
heavy,  and  will  not  hear?  Does  Mr.  Arnold's  "method  and 
secret "  of  Jesus  supply  an  explanation  ?  or  is  the  fact  ac- 
counted for  by  the  patronizing  concession  of  the  author  of 
"  Supernatural  Religion,"  that  Jesus  presented  the  rare  specta- 
cle of  a  life,  so  far  as  we  can  estimate  it,  noble  and  consistent 
with  his  own  lofty  principles  ? 

There    is    an    explanation    more    simple,   intelligible,   and 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  643 

reasonable,  and  one  which  therefore  bears  the  marks  of  truth. 
The  past  success  of  the  faith  of  Jesus  is  owing  to,  and  its 
future  triumph  is  assured  by,  his  being  the  completion  of  the 
Divine  revelation.  Distorted  by  the  inventions  of  men, 
clouded  by  metaphysicians  and  theology-makers,  misrepre- 
sented by  professed  preachers,  the  good  news  has  gone 
forth  conquering,  and  to  conquer ;  because  it  is  no  mere 
message,  no  system  of  ethics,  but  an  opening-up  of  the  way 
to  that  object  of  universal  longing.  One  better  than  the  best 
conceivable,  —  the  Heavenly  Father.  .  .  . 

In  most  striking  contrast  with  the  effusiveness  of  the 
Christian  world,  on  the  character  and  enjoyment  of  a  future 
life,  is  the  reticence,  nay  almost  the  silence,  of  Jesus.  That 
life  was  always  present  to  him,  and  his  references  to  it  were 
frequent.  But  his  heaven  was  not  the  paradise  of  our  hymn- 
ology,  but  the  life  everlasting  ;  to  be  confessed  as  brethren  by 
him  before  the  Father,  to  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  king- 
dom, was  the  natural,  intelligible  end  of  loyalty  to  the  ideal 
Son.  To  sit  on  his  rio-ht  hand  was  not  his  to  eive,  but  it 
was  his  to  proclaim  that  no  man's  sacrifice  of  self  should  fail 
of  acceptance  with  the  One  above  self.  To  them  who  came 
asking  "What  shall  we  have?"  he  had  no  golden  crowns 
to  offer,  but  he  could  promise  that  in  the  resurrection  they 
should  be  as  the  angels  of  God. 

In  a  word,  the  glory  of  the  hereafter,  the  glory  that 
excelleth,  as  revealed  by  Jesus,  was  the  fulness  of  answer  to 
the  spiritual  craving  and  thirst  of  humanity.  We  know  what 
that  was  ;  w^hat  it  must  ever  be,  unless  the  universal  conscious- 
ness be  a  fiction.  Truer  apprehension  of  the  Divine  better 
than  the  best  conceivable  ;  deeper,  purer  communion  with  him, 
was  the  goal  of  "  the  pilgrim  pining  for  his  distant  home." 
Kingdoms  and  the  glory  of  them  ;  palms  and  shining  streets; 
all  these  will  I  give  thee  if  thou  wilt  fall  down  and  worship 
me  !  w^as  not  the  offer  of  Jesus  ;  it  was  an  offer  to  him  from 
the  adversary  within.  He  crushed  it  with  a  withering  sarcasm 
as  the  orrossest  insult  that  could  be  offered  to  a  son  of  God. 


644  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Shall  we,  his  brothers  and  sisters,  put  baubles  before  our  eyes 
to  take  away  our  gaze  from  the  Divine  Ideal  ?  worship  the 
great  white  throne  more  than  him  that  sitteth  thereon  ?  Do 
not  be  deceived  by  any  talk  about  the  value  of  symbols.  The 
moment  we  put  parable  in  place  of  the  truth  it  is  meant  to 
illustrate,  when  we  put  men's  visions  in  place  of  divine 
revelation,  we  are  on  the  verge  of  Idolatry.  Children  must 
be  taught  by  pictures,  but  we  are  not  to  be  always  babes  in 
Christ.  As  the  little  ones  come  naturally  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  truth,  and  the  rough  way  in  which  it  was  presented 
to  their  minds,  so  should  we,  If  we  would  only  let  our  spiritual 
nature  have  its  freedom,  come  to  smile  at  the  uncouth  repre- 
sentations which  even  the  best  of  men  sometimes  make  when 
they  seek  to  bring  us  into  the  presence  of  the  eternal  beauty, 
righteousness,  and  order.  Men  cannot  show  it,  for  the  king- 
dom of  God  Is  within  us.  Let  us  be  loyal  to  the  ideal,  not  to 
the  best  we  know,  but  to  One  far  exceeding  what  we  know, 
and  the  Ideal  will  possess  7is,  reveal  itself  to  us.  In  the  glory 
of  Its  light  we  shall  for  the  time  be  unconscious  of  aught  else  ; 
but,  as  our  spiritual  sight  groweth,  we  shall  be  able  to  trace 
our  homeward  path  onward  to  the  source  of  light,  to  the  glory- 
that  excelleth.  And  as  when,  following  some  picturesque  line 
of  coast,  we  find  to  our  surprise  that  the  goal  is  still  separated 
from  us  by  many  an  ascent  or  winding  of  the  cliff,  so  must  It 
be  when  we  turn  the  point  which  conceals  the  invisible  from 
us.  Freed  from  the  trammels  of  sense,  God  only  knows  how 
blinding  for  the  moment  may  be  the  beauty  of  the  Ideal  which 
shall  flash  upon  faithful  souls ;  but  If  we  accept  the  divine 
revelation,  this  much  is  certain,  —  that  the  uiicreate  ideal  iinist 
be  forever  the  object  of  our  worship,  7iot  of  our  co7?iprehcnsion. 
Thus  does  the  revelation  check  those  "  unnatural  "  ideas 
about  God,  which  drive  men  Into  idolatry  for  which  there  is 
cause  to  pity  them,  but  none  to  ridicule.  It  does  not  take  of 
the  things  of  men,  and  make  thereof  gods  for  us  ;  but  it  takes 
of  the  things  of  God,  and  shows  them  unto  men.  If  it  came 
claiming  power  to  show  us  all  things  that  were   of  God,  it 


i 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  645 

would  stand  convicted  of  falsehood  by  the  religious  sense  ;  for 
if  the  better  tJian  tJie  best  coiiceivable  could  be  ever  fully  attained 
unto,  it  would  fail  to  satisfy  the  universal  thirst  which  must 
need  drink  at  an  inexhaustible  fountain. 

The  stamp  of  truth  is  on  the  Gospel  of  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  because  it  brings  to  man  exactly  what  he  must  have,  or 
die, — aspiration  after  his  ideal  filled  and  yet  never  fulfilled. 
The  appeal  of  Jesus  was  to  the  subjective  universal  revelation 
of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  ;  but  what  is  fatherhood  to  a  little 
child,  save  an  unknown  entity  manifested  indeed  to  him  in 
action,  but  which,  until  the  relative  position  of  father  and 
child  be  altered,  he  can  never  comprehend  ?  The  revelation 
of  Jesus  was  the  glory  of  sonship  ;  but  as  to  the  Eternal 
purpose,  not  even  the  Son  knoweth,  but  the  Father  only,  — 
was  his  teachinof. 

The  great  religions  which  men  have  set  up  in  the  world 
are  convicted  of  human  origin,  just  as  the  religion  of  Jesus 
proves  itself  divine.  Buddhism  has  a  Nirvana  for  the  few, 
where  aspiration  dies,  for  consciousness  itself  ceases.  The 
positive  creed,  whether  of  Confucius  or  of  Comte,  has  noth- 
ing better  to  offer  man  than  the  best  known.  Mohammedanism 
would  supply  the  faithful  with  "  bright  maidens  and  unfailing 
vines,  such  as  in  dreams  would  hardly  soothe  a  soul  that 
once  had  tasted  of  immortal  truth,"  Judaic  Christianity  has 
its  New  Jerusalem.  Popular  theology  has  a  cunningly  con- 
trived scale  of  rewards  and  punishments.  The  revelation  of 
Jesus  is  the  revelation  of  a  development  of  aspiration  after 
One  better  than  the  best  conceivable,  —  a  development  wdiich 
can  therefore  have  no  end,  and  which  can  be  insured  by  every 
single  child  of  the  Eternal  Father,  in  loyalty  to  the  new  and 
living  way  opened  up  unto  him,  —  ideal  sonship  ;  free,  loving 
obedience. 

The  Gospel  of  the  hereafter  is,  then,  like  the  others,  a 
common  Gospel ;  not  for  the  few  favored  ones,  not  for  a  class 
or  a  caste,  but  for  the  whole  family  of  the  All-Father.  Its 
glory  is  not  to  burst  on  us  as  though  some  new  and  strange 


646  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

thing  had  happened  unto  us;  but  it  will  be  the  gradual  devel- 
opment of  our  present,  however  rare,  moments  of  communion 
with  our  Divine  Ideal,  Rare  enough  they  are,  God  knoweth, 
for  we  are  so  much  taken  up  with  our  business  or  our  pleas- 
ure or  our  sins,  that  there  is  little  time  for  even  the  contem- 
plation of  an  ideal.;  still,  to  all  of  us,  let  us  hope  that  the 

"  Good  God  not  only  reckons 
The  moments  when  we  do  his  will, 
But  when  the  spirit  beckons." 

Assuredly  he  does  ;  how  can  it  be  otherwise  ?  for  is  not 
the  one,  as  much  as  the  other,  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
within  us  ?  These  aspirations  after  the  glory  of  the  hereafter 
are  for  all  men,  in  all  the  circumstances  of  their  life  ;  they  come 
to  us  in  our  work,  and  make  the  music  of  the  heavens  sound 
above  the  hum  of  machinery  and  the  hubbub  of  the  street. 
They  whisper  to  us  in  sorrow,  drawing  us  out  of  ourselves, 
with  the  thought  that  the  sufferings  of  this  present  time  are 
not  worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  which  is  about  to 
be  revealed  in  us.  They  throng  around  us  in  worship,  like 
bands  of  angels,  ready  to  bear  us  far  away  from  the  seen  and 
the  temporal.  They  speak  also  of  the  glory  of  sonship,  for 
they  are  common  to  the  malefactor  and  the  saint ;  and  thus, 
testifying  to  the  reality  of  the  brotherhood  of  Jesus,  they  bring 
within  the  grasp  of  our  apprehension  that  supremest  glory  of 
the  Fatherhood  of  the  Eternal  One,  which,  knowing  neither 
beginning  nor  end,  embraces  creation  as  with  the  perfection 
of  the  circle. 

Aspirations  after  the  One  better  than  the  best  C07iceivable 
are  indeed  the  birthright  of  humanity,  and  evidence  relation- 
ship with  their  source.  The  Gospel  of  Jesus,  whom  we  call 
the  Christ,  makes  its  appeal  to  these  aspirations,  recognizes  the 
truth  of  our  birthright,  and  l)ids  us  be  loyal  to  it.  It  does  not 
demand  acceptance  on  the  groimd  of  "  authority  ;  "  it  docs 
not  come  disguised  as  an  ecclesiastical  s)-stem  ;  it  does  not 
depend   upon  wonders  and  miracles,  save  so  far  as  it  works 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  647 

wonders  and  miracles  in  ourselves  and  those  around  us  ;  it 
does  not  separate  us  as  do  the  creeds  of  men,  but  it  binds  in 
one  brotherhood  the  whole  family  of  man.  It  offers  "  reason- 
able satisfaction  to  the  religious  sentiment  in  the  nature  of 
man,"  because  it  gives  an  explanation  of  those  aspirations 
which  are  ourselves,  —  making  them  tiie  never-ending  steps  of 
divine  progression.  .  .  . 

In  place  of  the  material,  Jesus  offers  us  the  ideal;  and 
nothing  on  earth  can  withstand  it.  Creeds  may  rot  and  crum- 
ble away,  churches  may  rock  to  their  centre  ;  but  the  "  immov- 
able basis  of  the  religious  sentiment "  must  abide.  Earth's 
joys  may  dim,  its  glories  pass  away;  but  the  Gospel  of  the 
hereafter,  which  tells  us  of  Divine  aspiration  filled  and  yet 
never  fulfilled,  an  everlasting  approach  to  One  better  than  the 
best  conceivable,  remaineth  for  us  all,  —  for  every  child  of 
the  Eternal  who  through  the  new  and  living  way  draws  near 
unto  the  Father. 


WASHINGTON    GLADDEN. 

[Being  a  Christian.     Boston:   1S76.     Pp.  85-88.] 

The  Christian  life  is,  as  we  have  seen,  not  only  allegiance 
to  a  government,  but  devotion  to  a  person.  It  begins  with 
a  surrender  of  the  soul,  in  an  entire  and  unfaltering  trust,  to 
Jesus  Christ  the  Saviour.  Love  to  him,  faith  in  him,  union 
with  him,  are  its  constant  inspiration.  Now,  it  is  not  difficult 
for  any  of  us  to  tell  whether  or  not  we  are  cherishing  a 
personal  affection  for  those  who  are  nearest  us  in  this  world. 
The  dutiful  child  is  in  no  doubt  as  to  whether  he  loves  his 
mother  or  not.  The  parent  does  not  need  to  stop  and  search 
his  heart,  to  see  whether  he  can  find  any  traces  of  affection 
for  his  child.  Your  chosen  friend,  your  most  intimate  com- 
panion,—  you  know  what  your  feelings  are  toward  him. 
Why  should  there  be  any  more  uncertainty  in  your  mind 
concerning  your  love  for  Christ  ?     You  have  not  seen  him, 


648  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

but  you  may  communicate  with  him  every  day  and  every 
hour.  The  bodily  form  in  which  he  appeared  to  men  is  not 
with  us,  but  "  we  have  the  mind  of  Christ."  His  thouorhts 
are  not  only  recorded  for  us  in  the  New  Testament,  but 
they  are  given  to  us  by  direct  inspiration,  whenever  we  open 
our  minds  to  receive  them.  His  love  was  not  only  manifested 
to  us  on  the  cross,  but  it  is  revealed  to  us  every  day  in  care  the 
most  constant,  help  the  most  loving,  comfort  the  most  sweet 
and  precious.  The  fact  that  we  cannot  see  him  is  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  know  him.  Very  likely  there  are  persons 
in  this  world  whom  you  have  never  seen,  for  whom  you  have 
conceived  a  strong  affection.  You  have  been  in  communica- 
tion with  them :  their  thoughts  and  feelings  have  been  known 
to  you  ;  and  though  you  have  not  seen  their  faces,  or  touched 
their  hands,  you  know  their  minds  ;  and  all  love  that  is  genu- 
ine has  a  great  deal  more  to  do  with  the  mind  than  with  the 
face  or  the  hands.  Now,  communication  with  Christ  is  much 
more  direct,  and  may  be  much  more  constant,  than  with  any 
earthly  friend,  far  or  near ;  and  there  is  no  reason  why  our 
affections  for  him  should  not  constantly  deepen  and  strengthen, 
—  no  reason  why  we  should  not  be  quite  as  sure  that  we  love 
him,  as  that  we  love  any  other  friend.  For,  the  faculties  of 
the  soul  which  are  called  into  exercise  in  lovino;  him  are  the 
same  faculties  which  we  exercise  when  we  love  our  children 
or  our  parents  or  our  companions ;  and  there  is  no  more 
mystery  in  their  use  in  the  one  case  than  in  the  other. 

The  Christian  life  may  also  be  considered  as  a  hungering 
and  thirsting  for  righteousness.  This,  as  we  have  seen,  is 
the  principle  from  which  it  starts,  and  the  goal  toward  which 
it  travels.  You  go  to  Christ  because  you  hate  sin,  and  desire 
to  overcome  it.  You  follow  Christ  because  he  promises  to 
enable  you  to  make  his  righteousness  your  own.  Now,  you 
know  of  a  certainty  whether  or  not  this  is  your  purjiose  ; 
you  know  whether  you  have  set  before  yourself  righteousness 
rather  than  happlnc;ss,  as  your  being's  end  and  aim.  If  this 
is  the  ruling  motive  of  your  life,  if  you  want  to  be  pure  and 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  649 

true  and  good  more  than  you  want  any  thing  else,  and  if  by 
Christ's  grace  you  mean  to  be,  then  you  are  a  Christian. 
And  there  is  no  more  difficulty  in  your  knowing  that  this  is 
your  purpose,  than  in  knowing  that  you  have  decided  to  buy 
a  house,  or  to  make  a  journey,  or  to  study  a  profession. 


THOMAS    HENRY    STEEL. 

[Sermons.     London:  1882.     Pp.  159-164.] 

Childhood,  youth,  and  the  prime  of  active  Hfe  enlist  on 
their  behalf  all  our  human  sympathy  now,  even  as  they  must 
have  enlisted  of  old  that  of  every  spectator  in  Judaea  or 
Galilee.  And  when  men's  hearts  were  thus  opened,  how 
overpowering  must  have  been  the  influence  of  One  whose 
heart,  as  it  were,  beat  in  unison  with  theirs,  and  under  whose 
gende  touch,  even  in  the  display  of  his  divine  power, 
trembled  responsive  the  finest  chords  of  human  feeling ! 
Think  for  a  moment  what  the  effect  would  have  been  in  our 
own  case.  In  many,  if  not  in  most  of  your  families, 
Jairus'  daughter  must  have  her  counterpart.  There  may  be 
some  sister  "  about  twelve  years  of  age,"  innocent,  pure, 
inexpressibly  dear,  one  whose  beauty  makes  the  beholder 
glad,  and  fills  a  father's  eyes  with  light,  winning  all  hearts 
by  her  loving  playfulness  ;  and  yet  already,  through  a  fine 
unconscious  instinct,  purified  by  some  touch  of  maiSenly 
reserve  ;  one  whose  presence  by  a  subtle  influence  refines, 
you  know  not  how,  your  coarser  thoughts  and  feelings,  and 
whose  very  image,  when  absent,  haunting  the  chambers  of 
your  memory,  will  help  you  resist  the  sudden  temptation 
to  evil.  Some  subtle  poison  pervades  the  atmosphere,  some 
unseen  injury  impairs  the  body's  delicate  organization  ;  and 
the  flower  that  lately  bloomed  so  sweet  and  fresh,  now  droops 
its  languid  head.  The  hurried  pulse,  the  hectic  cheek,  the 
eye's  feverish  brightness,  the  subdued  gentleness  of  voice, 
the  sweet  mournfulness  of  the  smile,  —  all  speak  too  clearly 


650  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

to  the  mother's  heart  that  the  touch  of  the  Angel  of  Death 
has  hallowed  her  child.  While  she  prays  that  if  it  be  possible 
this  cup  of  sorrow  may  yet  pass  from  her,  the  struggle  is 
over.     The  child  is  dead. 

"  Maid,  arise  !  "  Oh,  were  it  possible  that  these  words  of 
mercy  and  power  should  at  this  day  sound  once  more  in  our 
ears,  were  it  possible  that  at  their  bidding  the  departed 
spirit  should  return  to  animate  again  the  frame  it  had  seemed 
to  have  left  forever,  should  we  not  bow  down  in  adoration 
before  him  whose  lips  had  uttered  them  ;  and  while  fear 
came  upon  us,  mingled  with  our  joy,  acknowledge  with 
thankful  hearts  that  God  had  indeed  visited  his  people  ? 

And  does  there  not  rise  also  before  the  mind  of  many  of 
us  the  imaofe  of  some  one  cut  down  like  that  widow's  son  at 
Nain,  in  the  very  pride  and  bloom  of  opening  life,  just  when 
every  promise  shone  before  him  of  a  useful  and  brilliant 
career,  and  the  active  mind  was  rising  to  the  duties  of  a 
wider  and  higher  sphere  ?  Nay,  even  the  very  tablets  behind 
me,  do  they  not  vividly  remind  you  that  even  here  the  Angel 
of  Death  waves  his  unseen  wings,  and  woos  too  early,  as  we 
often  deem  it,  some  of  the  brightest  and  purest  souls  among 
you  to  their  rest  in  the  home  of  heaven  ?  Yes,  it  is  often 
thus,  that  on  the  very  edge  of  the  battle  the  Christian  soldier 
who  has  but  just  girded  on  his  harness  is  not  suffered  to 
stain  it  in  the  dust  and  heat  of  the  conllict.  He  who  seeth 
not  as  man  seeth,  removes  him  perhaps  from  evils  which  he 
alone  can  foreknow.  But  human  affection  can  seldom  see, 
nor  can  we  think  it  was  meant  to  see,  the  desire  of  our  eyes 
thus  taken  away  with  a  stroke,  and  yet  neither  mourn  nor 
weep,  nor  let  the  tears  run  down.  The  mother's  heart  still 
yearns  as  of  yore,  for  her  lost  son,  and  at  times  refuses  to  be 
comforted.  And  it  is  this  heart  that  will  always  feel,  as  the 
well-known  story  of  never-ceasing  interest  is  read  again  and 
again  in  our  ears,  what  rapture  those  words,  as  the  reality  of 
their  power  became  manifest,  must  have  stirred  within  the 
widow's  heart ;   what   conviction   in   the   minds  of  all,  that  an 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  65  I 

unusual  Presence  was  there,  that  the  Lord  of  life  was  among- 
them,  that  the  expected  salvation  was  near,  the  Desire  of  all 
nations  was  perhaps  already  come. 

In  the  story  of  Lazarus,  which  the  peculiar  tenderness  of 
St.  John  seems  by  some  inherent  right  to  have  appropriated 
to  his  pen,  we  have  the  third  type ;  the  type  not  of  the  child, 
nor  of  the  youth,  but  of  the  full-grown  man,  struck  down  in 
all  the  fresh  vigor  and  prime  of  life.  It  is  with  this  case,  most 
of  all  the  three,  that  we,  and  not  you,  we  who  are  in  the  midst 
of  the  heat  and  turmoil  of  life's  conflict,  must  have  especial 
sympathy.  The  time  will  soon  come,  no  doubt,  when  you 
also  will,  many  of  you,  feel  the  shock  that  some  of  us  have 
more  than  once  already  felt,  when  a  fellow-soldier,  perhaps, 
who  has  long  through  weal  and  through  woe  fought  the 
battle  of  life  along  with  you,  is  about  to  be  struck  down,  as 
it  were,  by  your  side.  But  to  pass  on  :  those  well-known 
sisters,  who  from  him  that  loved  all  men  were  yet  blessed  in 
winning  especial  love,  seem,  when  we  hear  of  them,  to  be 
no  longer  guarded  by  the  superintending  care  of  parents  or 
older  friends.  Their  brother  must  have  been  to  them  as 
father  and  mother.  See  how  strongly  the  love  of  each 
towards  the  object  of  their  common  affection  shines  forth  ; 
with  something  of  contrast  also,  arising  from  their  difference 
of  character.  Martha,  as  soon  as  she  hears  that  Jesus  is 
coming,  goes  forth  at  once  to  meet  the  friend  of  her  lost 
brother,  and,  engrossed  by  her  earthly  sorrow,  seems  but  little 
comforted  in  her  present  grief  by  the  knowledo-e  that  he  that 
was  dead  should  rise  again  at  the  last  day.  Mary  sits  still  in 
the  house,  and  awaits  the  message  from  her  sister ;  and  even 
when  she  eoes  forth  to  meet  lesus,  she  is  believed  bv  those 
around  her  to  be  eoine,  as  no  doubt  was  her  wont,  unto  the 
grave,  to  weep  there.  And  yet  the  first  words  of  both  are, 
"  Lord,  if  thou  hadst  been  here,  my  brother  had  not  died," 
—  words  soon  to  be  verified  far  beyond  all  they  could  have 
hoped.  Their  common  love,  their  common  faith,  received 
their  fruition ;  and  out  of  those  words,  which  seemed  onl)-  to 


652  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

restore  a  lost  brother  to  their  arms,  the  Church  of  Christ  has 
now  for  nearly  two  thousand  years  drawn  the  earnest  of  that 
hope,  which  points  to  that  far  nobler  resurrection,  of  which 
these  miracles  were  but  types  and  outlines,  when  this  corrupt- 
ible shall  once  for  all  put  on  incorruption,  and  this  mortal 
put  on  immortality,  and  death  be  forever  swallowed  up  in 
victory. 

BURKE    AARON    HINSDALE. 

[Internal  Evidence  of  the  Authenticity  of  the  Gospels.    Christian  Quarterly, 

vol.  iv.  pp.  74-77  ] 

The  inimitable  character  of  Jesus  cannot  be  accounted  for, 
but  upon  the  hypothesis  that  it  is  drawn  from  life. 

Men  recognize  two  kinds  of  ability,  —  the  ability  of  the 
creator,  and  the  ability  of  the  critic.  The  one  is  genius, 
the  other  criticism.  The  first  gives  us  great  conceptions  in 
statuary,  in  painting,  in  architecture,  and  in  poetry ;  the 
second  passes  judgment  on  their  merits.  Genius  is  by  far 
the  higher  and  rarer  gift.  But  what  is  its  range  ?  To 
hold  the  mirror  up  to  nature,  to  be  true  to  originals,  to 
discern  and  portray  facts  as  they  are,  —  this  is  the  farthest 
reach  of  genius.  To  make  their  characters  think,  feel,  and 
act,  as  men  think,  feel,  and  act,  —  in  a  word,  to  represent  men, 
is  the  task  of  our  novelists  and  dramatists;  and  to  say  they 
have  failed,  is  to  pass  such  sentence  on  them  as  admits  of 
no  commutation  or  pardon.  In  this  field  our  Scotts,  Goethes, 
and  Shakspeares  have  won  their  renown.  Shall  we  be  told 
that  a  few  Galilaeans  of  commoni)lace  faculties,  of  narrow 
culture,  and  of  so  little  command  of  language  that  their  style 
constantly  labors  and  halts  under  the  weight  of  meaning,  shall 
we  be  told  that  their  imagination  "  bodied  forth  "  and  their  pen 
"  turned  to  shape  "  the  Christ  of  the  Gospels  ?  The  hypothe- 
sis will  not  stand  the  test  to  which  hypotheses  are  subjected. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  absence  of  the  usual  indications  of 
the  creative  imagination,  and  of  the  intense  seriousness  of  the 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  653 

writers  that  precludes  the  possibihty  of  artistic  creation,  the 
task  was  plainly  bc)oncl  the  reach  of  their  powers.  Nay,  we 
go  farther,  and  say  it  was  beyond  the  reach  of  the  greatest 
powers  and  the  ripest  culture. 

Our  argument  cannot  be  presented  in  its  full  force  without 
a  careful  analysis  of  the  character  of  Jesus.  Such  an  analysis 
would  render  it  necessary  to  consider  such  topics  as  these  : 
The  childhood  of  Jesus,  the  manner  in  which  he  used  the 
miraculous  power  attributed  to  him,  the  wonderful  equipoise 
and  balance  of  his  nature,  and  the  superlative  excellence  of 
his  teaching.  But  such  discussion  fannot  here  be  attempted  ; 
we  can  only  offer  a  reflection  or  two  on  the  two  last-mentioned 
topics.  Before  we  offer  these,  however,  we  must  remind  the 
reader  that  we  do  not  assume  the  authenticity  of  the  record, 
we  only  argue  from  its  character  that  it  must  be  trustworthy. 

Let  it,  then,  be  first  noted  that  the  Evangelists  never  tell 
us,  after  the  manner  of  spectators,  that  Jesus  exhibited  a 
wonderful  equipoise  of  nature,  that  he  was  always  master  of 
himself  and  of  the  situation.  To  do  that,  were  a  work  of  no 
difficulty.  But  they  give  us  a  person,  historical  or  imaginary, 
who  evinces  this  power  in  a  manner,  and  to  a  degree,  that 
commands  universal  admiration.  He  is  equal  to  all  emer- 
gencies, not  only  among  the  simple  people  of  Galilee,  but 
also  among  the  ingenious  casuists  and  shrewd  politicians  of 
Jerusalem.  He  triumphantly  answers  the  most  ingeniously 
framed  questions,  and  extricates  himself  from  the  most  trying 
dilemmas.  He  traverses  every  plane  of  social  and  religious 
life,  and  is  never  thrown  off  his  guard,  never  loses  command 
of  himself,  but  proves  himself  equal  to  every  emergency,  and 
exhibits  a  fertility  of  resource  and  a  power  of  address  that 
constantly  checks  and  overawes  his  antagonists.  He  is  loved 
by  the  poor,  and  courted  by  the  rich  :  yet  he  never  speaks  in 
the  tone  of  the  demagogue  to  the  one,  or  prostitutes  himself 
to  the  other.  Some  phases  of  his  character  are  thus  felici- 
tously touched  by  Mr.  Beecher  in  his  new  "  Life  of  Christ :  "  — 

"  There  is  a  poor  kind  of  dignity  that  never  allows  itself 


654  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

to  be  excited,  that  is  guarded  against  all  surprises ;  that 
restrains  the  expression  of  sudden  interest,  that  holds  on  its 
cold  and  careful  way  as  if  superior  to  the  evanescent  moods  of 
common  men.  Such  was  not  Christ's  dignity.  No  one  seemed 
more  a  man  amongf  men  in  all  the  inflections  of  human  moods 
than  did  Jesus.  With  the  utmost  simplicity  he  suffered  the 
events  of  life  to  throw  their  lights  and  shadows  upon  his  soul. 
He  was  'grieved,'  he  was  '  angr}^'  he  was  'surprised,'  he 
'  marvelled.'  In  short,  his  soul  moved  through  all  the  moods 
of  human  experience  ;  and,  while  he  rose  to  sublime  com- 
munion with  God,  he  was  also  a  man  among  men  ;  while  he 
rebuked  self-indulgence  and  frivolity,  he  cheerfully  partook  of 
innocent  enjoyments ;  while  he  denounced  the  insincerity  or 
burdensome  teachings  of  the  Pharisees,  he  did  not  separate 
himself  from  society  or  from  social  life,  but  even  accepted  their 
hospitality,  and  his  dinner  discourses  contain  some  of  his  most 
pungent  teachings." 

The  conception  of  Christ,  from  whatever  source  it  came, 
would  have  been  a  failure,  had  it  not  been  sustained  by  an 
unparalleled  teaching.  It  is  not  sufficient  for  a  literary 
creator  to  say  his  hero  was  a  sage  or  a  philosopher.  He 
must  make  him  act,  and,  above  all,  speak,  like  one.  Sir 
Walter  Scott  has  not  entered  on  the  difficulties  of  his  task 
when  he  says  Jeanie  Deans  spoke  with  a  simple  tender 
eloquence  that  touched  all  hearts :  he  must  make  her  speak 
so  as  to  move  the  hearts  of  his  readers. 

The  Evangelists  do  tell  us  that  Jesus  was  an  unparalleled 
teacher.  "  He  spake  as  never  man  spake."  "  The  common 
people  heard  him  gladly."  "  All  bare  him  witness,  and 
wondered  at  the  gracious  words  which  proceeded  out  of  his 
mouth."  "  Men  were  astonished  at  his  doctrine."  They 
asked,  "Whence  hath  this  man  this  wisdom  ?"  To  compare 
such  statements  as  these,  involves  no  difficulty.  But  to  set 
down  in  writing  what  it  was  that  so  arrested  the  attention  of 
men,  to  give  the  teaching  itself,  is,  upon  the  hypothesis  that 
the  Evangelists  did  not  paint  from  life,  the  crucial  test.     But 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  655 

how  completely  is  the  claim  sustained  !  After  reading  these 
glowing  encomiums,  we  read  the  teaching  itself  as  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  listened  to  the  wisdom  of  Solomon.  — 
the  half  has  not  been  told  us.  The  question  recurs,  Did  the 
Evangelists  have  a  living  original?  "  It  is  more  inconceiv- 
able," says  Rousseau,  "  that  a  number  of  persons  should  agree 
to  write  such  a  history,  than  that  one  should  furnish  the  sub- 
ject of  it."  "  Shall  we  be  told,"  asks  Theodore  Parker,  "such 
a  man  never  lived,  the  whole  story  is  a  lie  ?  Suppose  that 
Plato  and  Newton  never  lived.  But  who  did  their  works, 
and  thought  their  thoughts  ?  It  takes  a  Newton  to  forge  a 
Newton.  What  man  could  have  fabricated  a  Jesus  ?  None 
but  a  Jesus."  The  argument  is  an  old  one.  When  Panaetius 
held  that  the  "  Phaedo  "  was  spurious,  he  was  conclusively 
answered  by  the  line,  — 

"  If  Plato  did  not  write  me,  there  must  have  been  two  Platos." 

This  field  stretches  away  before  us,  boundless  in  extent,  and 
inexhaustible  in  fertility.  We  quit  it  wi'th  reluctance,  but  with 
the  conviction  that  we  have  established  the  authenticity  of 
the  Gospels.  We  conclude  with  a  sentence  from  Rousseau  : 
"The  history  of  Socrates,  which  no  one  presumes  to  doubt, 
is  not  so  well  attested  as  that  of  Jesus  Christ." 


STEPHEN  GREENLEAF  BULFINCH. 

[Manual  of  the  Evidences  of  Christianity.    Boston  :  1869.     Pp.  18,  19,  22-24.] 

Among  the  virtues  there  are  some  which  have  attracted 
the  admiration  of  mankind  in  every  age,  and  which  were  held 
in  high  honor  alike  by  Jews  and  heathen  at  the  time  of  the 
Saviour.  Such  are  active  courage,  friendship,  and  patriotism. 
There  are  others  to  which  less  of  popular  favor  has  been 
given,  but  which  are  no  less  important  to  human  happiness, 
and  in  themselves  no  less  worthy.  Such  are  meekness, 
patience,  forgiveness.     The  former  class  are    in    accordance 


656  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

with  the  natural  impulses,  the  latter  imply  their  restraint. 
An  uninspired  leader  would  have  advocated  the  popular 
virtues  more  than  the  unpopular,  because  he  would  have 
shared  the  popular  feelings.  An  ambitious  leader  would 
have  pursued  a  similar  course,  because  he  would  have  ex- 
pected thus  to  gain  favor.  But  Jesus  gave  his  influence  for 
the  unpopular  virtues,  commending  a  meek,  yielding,  and 
peaceable  course  of  conduct,  directing  us  to  love  our  enemies, 
and  to  return  good  for  evil,  —  precepts  which  would  appear 
impracticable  if  his  own  example  had  not  illustrated  them. 
This  course  showed  at  once  his  divine  wisdom  in  enforcing 
those  virtues  which  most  needed  commendation,  and  his 
superiority  to  all  attempts  to  gain  popular  favor,  while  it 
renders  the  success  of  his   relioion  the   more  wonderful. 

It  has  been  erroneously  argued,  even  by  some  defenders 
of  Christianity,  that  the  Saviour,  in  thus  doing,  discounte- 
nanced the  manly  virtues,  —  courage,  friendship,  and  patriot- 
ism. But  this  is  going  beyond  the  truth.  He  did  not 
expressly  commend  these  virtues,  because  they  needed  no 
commendation,  being  already  favorites  with  the  world  ;  but 
he  inculcated  the  principles  from  which  they  must  proceed, — 
reverence  for  God  rather  than  man,  which  is  the  source  of 
true  courage  ;  and  love,  of  which  friendship  and  patriotism 
are   only  applications. 

Christianity  goes  deep  into  the  cause  of  existing  evils  in 
society,  and  thus  directs  efforts  more  effectually  to  their 
removal.  It  does  not  ascribe  these  evils  to  the  constitution 
of  society,  to  defective  institutions,  to  deficiency  of  wealth, 
or  superabundance  of  population,  but  to  sin  ;  and  it  comes  to 
free  mankind  from  this  evil.  Other  reformers  have  endeav- 
ored to  remove  particular  forms  of  suffering  and  wrong,  and 
have  thus  often  done  well,  carrying  out  various  portions  of 
the  great  design  of  Christianity  ;  but  the  Gospel  itself  strikes 
at  the  root  of  all,  representing  the  original  evil  of  all  to 
be  man's  disobedience  to  the  Divine  law,  and  directing  its 
strongest   efforts    to    remove    this.     This  is  not   the  ground 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  657 

which  a  fanatic  would  have  taken  ;  for  honest  enthusiasm, 
excited  by  the  view  of  visible  wrongs,  would  have  attacked 
them  directly.  Nor  could  such  ground  be  taken  by  an  impos- 
tor. The  loftiest  moral  truth  could  not  be  discovered  by  one 
who  himself  was  utterly  untrue.   .   .   . 

In  most  systems,  the  personal  character  of  the  founder 
is  comparatively  of  little  importance.  The  works  of  Plato 
command  admiration  from  the  intellectual  greatness  they 
display,  not  from  the  moral  qualities  of  the  writer.  Even  the 
laws  of  Moses  derive  their  sanction  in  a  very  slight  degree 
from  the  personal  character  of  the  great  lawgiver.  But  when 
a  teacher  claims  the  love  of  his  followers,  he  must  display 
those  qualities  by  which  love  is  won.  This  claim  is  made  by 
the  Author  of  Christianity.  He  calls  his  disciples  friends;  he 
requires  them  to  commemorate  him  by  a  personal  act  of 
affection.  Neither  a  fanatic  nor  an  impostor  would  have  been 
likely  to  do  this  ;  for  the  feelings  of  the  one  would  have 
been  exclusively  engaged  on  the  object  of  his  enthusiasm, 
and  the   other  would  have  been  without  genuine  feeling. 

The  character  of  the  Saviour,  as  presented  by  the  Evan- 
gelists, combines  the  strength  of  man  with  the  tenderness  of 
woman.  He  is  faithful  to  every  duty ;  and  the  virtues  of  the 
citizen,  the  friend,  and  the  son,  including  some  which  his 
religion  has  been  wrongly  supposed  to  depreciate,  are  all 
righdy  balanced.  .  .  .  Forbidding  avarice,  and  censuring  the 
faults  of  the  rich  and  powerful,  he  teaches  the  poor  and 
oppressed  lessons  of  patience  and  faith,  and  refuses  to  inter- 
meddle with  the  distribution  of  property.  He  makes  claim 
to  the  highest  dignity,  yet  simply  and  unaffectedly ;  and 
without  impairing  his  dignity,  he  performs  a  menial  office, 
when  he  can  thereby  teach  an  important  lesson.  He  calls 
all  men  to  come  to  him,  yet,  instead  of  using  flattering  per- 
suasions, warns  them  that  they  will  encounter  obloquy  and 
persecution. 

But  it  is  as  the  period  of  his  sufTering  draws  nigh,  that  the 
beauty  of  his  character  most   fully  appears.     The  wise   and 


658  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

tender  counsels  to  his  friends,  the  prayer  with  his  disciples, 
the  struggle  with  himself  in  Gethsemane,  the  dignity  with 
which  he  meets  his  captors,  asking  only  that  his  disciples 
may  be  spared,  the  patience  he  shows  under  the  abuse  of 
the  Sanhedrim,  the  look  that  brings  repentance  to  the  disci- 
ple who  has  denied  him,  the  answers  and  the  bearing  that 
almost  subdue  the  pride  and  policy  of  the  Roman  governor, 
—  these  prepare  us  for  the  still  higher  sublimity  of  the  cross. 
Here  we  see  him  praying  for  the  pardon  of  his  enemies,  and 
urging  the  only  plea  that  could  be  available  for  them  ;  in  his 
own  agony  showing  mercy  to  the  penitent  thief,  and  love 
and  consideration  for  his  mother,  and  with  his  last  breath 
commending  his  soul  to  God. 

If  this  holiest  of  all  characters  did  not  exist,  whence  came 
its  delineation  ?  It  is  one  of  the  highest  achievements  of  art, 
to  represent  a  perfect  human  form.  What,  then,  must  the 
artist  be  that  could  portray  a  perfect  human  soul?  Writers 
of  fiction  seldom,  if  ever,  create  incidents  ;  they  merely  vary 
and  combine  incidents  from  real  life.  And  the  occurrences 
which  have  been  here  presented  had  no  prototype  except  in 
Jesus  himself.  The  prayer  for  his  murderers  has  often  been 
imitated  by  his  followers,  but  it  was  first  uttered  by  himself ; 
and  the  more  than  royal  exercise  of  mercy  from  a  cross,  instead 
of  a  throne,  was  unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  world. 


C.    S.    WALKER. 

[The  Theism  of  Jesus.     From  The  New  Englander,  vol.  vii.  pp.  107,  loS,  no,  iii.] 

Jesus  convinced  men  that  his  doctrine  of  God  was  true, 
by  directing  their  attention  to  the  magnificent  system  of 
religion  and  morality  which  he  built  upon  it.  He  establislied 
Christianity  as  a  fact  in  the  world,  grounding  it  upon  the  one 
underlying  principle:  God  is,  —  out  of  which  he  made  all  the 
doctrine  and  practice  to  come.  The  stability  of  the  fabric 
proves  the  foundation.     If  the  stream  be  sweet,  the  source 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  659 

cannot  be  bitter.  If  the  fruit  be  good,  the  tree  cannot  be 
corrupt. 

It  would  give  a  false  impression  to  say  that  Jesus  proved 
the  existence  of  God.  He  was  not  accustomed  to  argue  with 
men.  He  was  no  sophist  or  dialectician,  manipulating  prem- 
ises and  conclusions.  He  was  a  seer,  revealing  God  to  men 
by  making  a  powerful  appeal  to  his  own  testimony,  to  the 
authority  of  the  Scriptures,  to  the  book  of  nature,  to  the  voice 
of  conscience,  and  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven  established  on 
earth.  He  simply  removed  the  veil,  opened  blind  eyes,  and 
said,  Behold !  The  truth  spiritually  discerned  needed  no 
proof.  He  began  with  the  spirit  of  man,  and  by  clarifying 
that  stimulated  the  spiritual  man  so  that  he  might  gain  access 
to  the  right  point  of  view,  and,  from  its  exalted  position, 
behold  the  truth  in  its  own  light  and  glorious  reality. 

Such  was  Christ's  conception  of  God.  It  proves  its  own 
truthfulness.  It  is  a  thought  which  needs  only  to  be  received 
into  the  mind  of  any  truth-loving  soul,  to  be  at  once  recog- 
nized as  true.  It  surpasses  any  and  every  human  idea  of 
God.  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  David,  and  the  prophets 
knew  something  of  God  ;  but  they  knew  him  only  in  part. 
Now  and  then  they  caught  glimpses  of  him,  as  one  sees  a 
distant  mountain  when  for  a  moment  the  haze  is  blown  away 
and  the  clouds  lift.  Personally  theirs  was  an  inadequate 
knowledge  of  God,  however  much  in  advance  of  the  popular 
idea,  because  it  was  a  conception  colored  and  shaped  by  their 
own  imperfect  life  and  experience.  Nowhere  in  the  Old 
Testament  can  we  find  such  a  glorious  portra)-al  of  the  being 
and  character  of  God  as  Jesus  has  given  us.  Nowhere  in 
Homer,  in  Plato,  in  Cicero,  in  the  Vedas,  in  the  whole  realm 
of  classic  literature,  is  there  to  be  found  a  conception  of  God 
comparable  with  Christ's  revelation  of  Deity.  Has  modern 
life,  with  its  keen-eyed  science,  evolved  a  God  that  shall  set 
aside  the  theism  of  Jesus  ?  Who  is  this  God  of  to-day  whom 
they  would  have  us  accept  in  the  place  of  our  Father  whom 
Christ  has  taught  us  to  love?     The  God  of  these  philosophers 


66o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

is  one  of  human  revelation,  if  not  of  human  invention  ;  for 
the  fundamental  principle  of  their  science  is  the  rejection  of 
every  thing  supernatural.  Their  God  is  unknowable.  He 
may  exist,  or  he  may  not.  If  he  be  the  creator  of  the  world, 
he  has  left  it  to  run  itself  without  any  personal  supervision. 
He  is  no  prayer-hearing  God,  Breath  spent  in  prayer  is 
wasted  in  self-delusion.  Those  who  worship  him  cannot 
worship  him  in  spirit,  for  there  is  no  spirit.  All  things  are 
material ;  what  is  called  spirit  Is  only  a  function  of  the  body 
or  a  mode  of  motion.  There  can  be  no  such  thing  as  sin, 
for  all  things  are  fixed  by  unchanging  law.  Murder,  lying, 
sensuality,  are  the  incidental  results  of  climate  and  the  devel- 
opment of  human  nature ;  unfortunate,  indeed,  but  to  be 
expected  in  the  nature  of  things,  to  be  tabulated  as  statistics, 
and  to  be  compensated  for  by  other  adjustments.  The  indi- 
vidual has  little  worth  compared  with  the  sum  total  of  all 
things,  and  has  no  assured  hope  of  immortality  In  spite  of 
this  latest  result  of  the  effort  to  produce  a  conception  of  Deity 
that  shall  set  aside  the  Fatherhood  of  God  as  revealed  by 
Jesus,  it  is  still  true  that  Christ's  portrayal  of  the  Divine 
being  and  character  is  indisputably  the  very  best  the  world 
has  ever  seen.  That  portrayal  was  eminently  his.  A  few  of 
its  elements  had  been  perceived  by  different  sages  before  his 
day,  but  no  one  had  combined  them  all  into  one  harmonious 
and  perfect  character.  Much  less  could  any  one  else  have 
transfused  this  conception  into  the  spiritual  life  of  mankind, 
so  as  to  make  it  the  organic  force  that  has  for  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  been  developing  in  church,  society,  and  state  the 
most  stable  and  yet  progressive  results  of  true  thought  and 
noble  action.  Christ's  portrayal  of  God  involves  no  error, 
and  lacks  nothing.  Whence  did  Jesus  get  his  idea  of  God  ? 
Was  it  the  shrewd  invention  of  an  impostor?  the  dream  of 
a  fanatic?  the  fantasy  of  an  insane  person?  No;  this  match- 
less portrayal  of  the  character  of  God  is  itself  a  proof  of  its 
truth. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  66 1 


BROOKE    FOSS   WESCOTT. 

[The  Revelation  of  the  Risen  Christ.     London;  iSSi.     Pp.  7-12.] 

The  revelation  of  the  risen  Christ  is  indeed,  in  the  fullest 
sense  of  the  word,  a  revelation  ;  an  unveiling  of  that  which 
was  before  undiscovered  and  unknown. 

Nothing  perhaps  (if  we  may  anticipate  results  yet  to  be 
established)  is  more  surprising  in  the  whole  sum  of  inspired 
teaching,  than  the  way  in  which  the  different  appearances  of 
Christ  after  his  resurrection  meet  and  satisfy  the  aspirations 
of  man  toward  a  knowledge  of  the  unseen  world.  As  we  fix 
our  thoughts  steadily  upon  them,  w^e  learn  how  our  life  is 
independent  of  its  present  conditions  ;  how  w^e  also  can  live 
through  death,  how  we  can  retain  all  the  issues  of  the  past 
without  being  bound  by  the  limitations  under  wdiich  they  were 
shaped.  Christ  rose  from  the  grave,  changed  and  )-et  the 
same  ;  and  in  him  we  have  the  pledge  and  the  type  of  our 
rising.  Christ  was  changed.  He  was  no  longer  subject  to 
the  laws  of  the  material  order  to  wdiich  his  earthly  life  was 
previously  conformed.  As  has  been  well  said  :  "  What  was 
natural  to  him  before  is  now  miraculous  ;  what  was  before 
miraculous  is  now  natural."  Or,  to  put  the  thought  in  another 
form,  in  our  earthly  life  the  spirit  is  manifested  through  the 
body  ;  in  the  life  of  the  risen  Christ,  the  body  is  manifested 
(may  we  not  say  so  ?)  through  the  spirit.  He  ''  appears," 
and  no  longer  is  seen  coming.  He  is  found  present,  no  one 
knows  from  whence ;  he  passes  away,  and  no  one  knows 
whither.  He  stands  in  the  midst  of  the  group  of  the  apostles 
when  the  doors  were  shut  for  fear  of  tJie  fezus.  He  vanishes 
out  of  the  sight  of  the  disciples,  whose  e)'es  were  opened  that 
they  should  know  him.  And  at  last,  as  they  were  looking,  he 
was  taken  up,  and  a  cloud  received  Jiim  out  of  their  sight. 

The  continuity,  the  intimacy,  the  simple  familiarity  of 
former  intercourse,  is  gone.  He  is  seen  and  recognized  only 
as  he  wills,  and  when  he  wills.     In  the  former  sense  of  the 


662  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

phrase,  he  is  no  longer  with  the  disciples.  They  have,  it 
appears,  no  longer  a  natural  way  of  recognizing  him.  Feeling 
and  thought  require  to  be  purified  and  enlightened  in  order 
that  he  may  be  known  under  the  conditions  of  earthly  life. 
There  is  a  mysterious  awfulness  about  his  person,  which  first 
inspires  fear  and  then  claims  adoration.  He  appointed  a 
place  of  meeting  with  his  apostles,  but  he  did  not  accompany 
them  on  their  journey.  He  belongs  already  to  another  realm, 
so  that  the  ascension  only  ratifies  and  presents  in  a  final  form 
the  lessons  of  the  forty  days,  in  which  it  was  included. 

Thus  Christ  is  seen  to  be  changed,  but  none  the  less  he  is 
also  seen  to  be  essentially  the  same.  Nothing  has  been  left 
in  the  grave,  though  all  has  been  transfigured.  He  is  the 
same,  so  that  the  marks  of  the  passion  can  become  sensibly 
present  to  the  doubting  Thomas  ;  the  same,  so  that  he  can 
eat  of  the  broiled  fish  which  the  disciples  had  prepared  ;  the 
same,  so  that  one  word  spoken  with  the  old  accent  makes  him 
known  to  the  weeping  Magdalene  ;  the  same,  so  that  above 
all  expectation,  and  against  the  evidence  of  death,  the  apostles 
could  proclaim  to  the  world  that  he  who  suffered  upon  the 
cross  had  indeed  redeemed  Israel ;  the  same  in  patience,  in 
tenderness,  in  chastening  reproof,  in  watchful  sympath)-,  in 
quickening  love.  In  each  narrative  the  marvellous  contrast  is 
w'ritten  —  Christ  changed,  and  yet  the  same  —  without  eftbrt, 
w^ithout  premeditation,  without  consciousness,  as  it  appears, 
on  the  part  of  the  Evangelists.  And  if  we  put  together  these 
two  series  of  facts  in  which  the  contrast  is  presented,  we  shall 
see  how  they  ennoble  and  complete  our  prospect  of  the 
future.  It  is  not  that  Christ's  soul  lives  on,  divested  of  the 
essence  as  of  the  accidents  of  the  earthly  garments  in  which 
it  was  for  a  time  arrayed.  It  is  not  that  his  body,  torn  and 
wounded,  is  restored,  such  as  it  was,  to  its  former  vigor  and 
beauty.  P)Ut  in  him  soul  and  body,  in  the  indissoluble  union 
of  a  perfect  manhood,  are  seen  triumphant  over  the  last 
penalty  of  sin.  In  him  first  iJic  corniptible puts  on  incornip- 
iion,  and  the  mortal  puts  on   iininortality,  without  ceasing  to 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  66 


o 


"be"  so  far  as  it  has  been,  that  in  him  we  may  learn  some- 
thing more  of  the  possibiHties  of  human  Hfe,  which,  as  far  as 
we  can  observe  it  with  our  present  powers,  is  sad  and  fleeting ; 
that  in  him  we  may  be  enabled  to  gain  some  sure  confidence 
of  fellowship  with  the  departed  ;  that  in  him  we  may  have  our 
hope  steadfast,  unmovable,  knowing  that  our  labor  cannot  be 
in  vain. 

Now,  if  this  be  so,  if  the  Lord  after  his  resurrection  laid 
open  to  men,  as  they  could  bear  it,  a  new  life,  it  will 
be  evident  upon  reflection  that  this  knowledge  could  only  be 
given  to  the  faithful.  God  gave  him  to  be  made  manifest,  not 
to  all  the  people,  but  zcnto  ivitnesses  that  zvere  cJioscn  before  by 
God. 

The  revelation  was  a  revelation  to  believers.  This  is  the 
second  characteristic  which  we  have  marked.  If  we  compare 
the  scenes  of  the  passion  with  the  scenes  of  the  resurrection, 
we  shall  realize  the  significance  of  the  contrast.  If  we  com- 
pare the  teaching  of  the  life  of  humiliation  with  the  teaching 
of  the  life  of  glory,  we  shall  realize  the  Divine  necessity. 
That  which  is  of  the  earth  can  perceive  only  that  which  is  of 
the  earth.  Our  senses  can  only  grasp  that  which  is  kindred 
to  themselves.  We  see  no  more  than  that  for  which  we  have 
a  trained  faculty  of  seeing.  If,  then,  the  life  of  the  risen 
Lord  had  been  simply  a  renovation  or  a  continuance  of  his 
former  life,  subject  to  the  same  conditions,  and  necessarily 
destined  to  the  same  inevitable  close,  then  the  experience  of 
unbelievers  would  have  been  sufficient  to  test,  the  witness 
of  unbelievers  would  have  been  adequate  to  establish,  the 
reality  of  the  resurrection.  But  if  it  was  a  foreshadowing  of 
new  powers  of  human  action,  of  a  new  mode  of  human  being, 
then,  without  a  corresponding  power  of  spiritual  discernment, 
there  could  be  no  testimony  to  its  truth.  The  world  could 
not  see  Christ;  and  Christ  could  not  —  there  is  a  Divine 
impossibility  —  show  himself  to  the  world.  To  have  proved 
by  incontestable  evidence  that  Christ  rose  again  as  Lazarus 
rose  again,  would  have  been  not  to    confirm    our  faith,  but 


664  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

to  destroy  it  irretrievably.  Only  the  believer  who,  however 
imperfectly  yet  vitally,  had  felt  Christ's  power,  and  known 
him,  could  grasp  and  harmonize  the  two  modes  of  the 
revelation  of  his  Person. 


GEORGE    PARK    FISHER. 

[Manual  of  Christian  Evidences.     New  York:  iSSS.     Pp.  32-36.] 

The  character  of  Jesus  as  depicted  by  the  Evangelists  is 
one  of  unequalled  excellence.  This  is  universally  admitted. 
It  is  not  a  character  made  up  of  negative  virtues  alone,  where 
the  sole  merit  is  absence  of  culpable  traits.  It  has  positive, 
strongly  marked  features.  It  combines  piety,  an  absorbing 
love  and  loyalty  to  God,  with  philanthropy,  —  a  love  to  men 
without  any  alloy  of  selfishness,  and  too  strong  to  be  con- 
quered by  their  injustice  and  ingratitude.  It  unites  thus, 
in  perfect  harmony,  the  qualities  of  the  saint  and  of  the 
philanthropist.  It  blends  holiness  with  compassion  and  gen- 
tleness. There  is  no  compromise  with  evil,  no  consent  to  the 
least  wronof-doinpf,  even  in  a  friend  or  follower.  But  with  this 
purity  there  is  a  deep  well  of  tenderness,  a  spirit  of  forgive- 
ness which  never  fails.  With  the  active  virtues,  with  an 
intrepidity  that  quails  before  none,  however  high  in  station 
and  public  esteem,  there  are  connected  the  passive  virtues  of 
patience,  forbearance,  meekness.  The  world  beholds  in  Jesus 
its  ideal  of  goodness. 

Now,  there  are  conclusive  reasons  for  affirming  that  this 
character  is  not  the  product  of  the  imagination  of  the  Evan- 
gelists. It  is  an  original  character,  and  one  which  those  who 
describe  it  could  never  have  invented.  In  the  first  place,  it 
stands  out  in  bold  relief,  and  in  obvious  contrast  with  the 
imperfections  of  those  to  whom  we  owe  the  portrait  of  it. 
With  no  model  in  actual  life  to  follow,  how  could  the  fisher- 
men of  Galilee  put  on  the  canvas  this  figure,  —  the  central 
figure  in  the  world's  history? 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  665 

In  the  second  place,  It  is  not  a  character  which  Is  formally 
delineated.  It  is  not  set  forth  in  a  string  of  epithets  or 
abstract  statements,  or  by  vague,  indiscriminate  laudation. 
The  impression  which  we  gain  of  the  character  of  Jesus  Is 
from  a  large  collection  of  incidents  and  of  sayings  recorded  in 
the  Gospels.  Our  Idea  of  him  is  the  effect  of  a  great  variety 
of  facts.  To  the  production  of  such  an  effect  by  such  means, 
the  writers,  had  they  drawn  upon  their  own  Imagination,  or 
that  of  others,  would  have  been  manifestly  Incompetent. 
Finally,  the  character  of  Jesus,  as  portrayed  in  the  Gospels, 
has  an  unmistakable  air  of  reality. 

We  may  go  forward  with  safety  a  step  farther.  Jesus,  as  we 
become  acquainted  with  him  in  the  Gospel  narratives,  which 
are  to  this  extent  self-verifying,  was,  literally,  a  sinless  person. 
We  have  here  a  character  of  immaculate  purity.  This,  to  be 
sure,  Is  a  point  which  cannot  be  demonstrated,  since  no  one 
can  discern  the  motives  of  action  ;  but  it  can  be  established 
beyond  reasonable  doubt.  In  all  that  Is  recorded  of  him  there 
is  no  evidence  of  moral  fault.  There  Is  nothing  that  he  did 
or  said  which  can  justly  be  made  a  ground  of  reproach.  It  is 
incredible  that  the  Evangelists,  even  on  the  supposition  of  a 
plan  on  their  part  to  make  him  out  to  be  better  than  he  was, 
could  have  selected  their  materials — putting  in  this  and 
leaving  out  that  —  in  such  a  way  as  to  accomplish  the  pur- 
pose. The  task  would  have  been  too  great  for  their  powers. 
It  would  imply  not  only  a  perfect  ideal  in  their  minds,  but, 
also,  an  Impossible  skill  in  realizing  it  In  a  narrative  form. 

IMoreover,  while  Jesus  was  obviously  holy  beyond  all 
example,  and  had  the  clearest,  most  penetrating  discernment 
of  moral  evil,  and  while  he  condemned  even  the  least 
wrone  in  the  inmost  thoughts  and  intents  of  the  soul,  there  Is 
not  a  trace  of  self-reproach  on  his  part.  Had  he  anywhere, 
even  In  his  prayers  to  God,  Implied  that  he  was  guilty  of 
fault,  some  record  of  his  self-accusation  would  have  been  left. 
It  would  have  found  Its  way  Into  the  traditions  concerning 
him.     When  his    cause  was    prostrate,   and  nothing   but   an 


666  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

ignominious  death  awaited  him,  in  the  hours  of  anguish  some 
expression  implying  penitence  would  have  escaped  him.  Not 
only  is  there  no  trace  of  such  a  feeling  on  his  part,  but  it  will 
scarcely  be  denied  that  he  made  on  his  followers,  who  were 
intimately  associated  with  him,  the  impression  that  he  was 
absolutely  free  from  moral  fault. 

Those  who  are  convinced  that  Jesus  was  without  sin  may 
find  in  the  fact  a  cogent  argument  for  the  supernatural  origin 
of  Christianity.  In  the  first  place,  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  any  other  faultless  and  perfect  man  has  ever  existed  among 
men.  Jesus  is  thus  an  exception  to  a  universal  fact  respecting 
the  race.  To  account  for  this  exception,  to  explain  this  one 
instance  of  spotless  purity,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  an 
extraordinary  relation  to  God  on  his  part,  —  to  assume  some- 
thing that  is  equivalent  to  a  miracle.  In  the  second  place, 
his  sinlessness  gives  credibility  to  his  testimony  respecting 
himself.  That  he  claimed  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  the  Messiah, 
is  beyond  all  dispute.  On  this  charge  he  was  crucified.  It 
will  not  be  questioned  that  the  position  wdiich  he  claimed,  and 
persisted  in  claiming,  was  of  an  exceptional  and  exalted  kind. 
It  will  not  be  questioned  that  he  considered  himself  the 
spiritual  guide  and  deliverer  of  mankind.  To  acquit  him  of  an 
unheard-of  arrogance  and  self-deception,  we  must  give  credit 
to  his  judgment  and  testimony  concerning  himself.  If  we 
discredit  this  judgment  and  testimony,  w^e  must  conclude 
that  perfect  moral  purity,  and  humility  wathal,  are  consistent 
with  a  self-exaltation  alike  baseless  and  really  without  a  jiarallcl 
in  the  extent  to  which  it  was  carried.  We  must  ascribe  to 
him  an  enormous  self-delusion.  We  must  conclude  of  the 
only  pure  and  perfect  one,  that  the  light  that  was  in  him  was 
"  darkness." 


TO  JESUS  OF  NAZARETH.  667 


WILLIAM    CONVERSE    WOOD. 

[Jesus'  Greatness  as  Man  estimated  by  His  Life- Work  as  Saviour.    From  The 
Church  Union,  Dec.  30,  1S76.] 

Jesus  contained  the  germs  of  all  greatness  in  his  natural 
composition.  There  are  casual  and  incidental,  but  sufficient, 
indications  of  the  widest  range  of  natural  powers  in  him  ;  not 
all  of  them  —  from  the  very  fact  of  his  utter  subordination 
to  his  work  —  fully  developed  and  conspicuous,  but  existing 
among  the  natural  gifts  of  his  mind,  part  of  the  fulness  of 
the  perfect  man. 

Most  men  do  not  think  of  Jesus  as  one  who  could  have 
written  poetry ;  but  what  sweeter  verse  than  "  Consider  the 
lilies  of  the  field"?  And  Renan  insists  on  speaking  of  the 
idyls  of  Jesus.  Yet  Jesus  never  attempted  to  write  poetry. 
Most  men  do  not  think  of  Jesus  as  one  who  could,  like 
Homer,  have  written  an  epic:  yet  Jesus  lived  one  epic  —  the 
Temptation  —  which  Milton  has  simply  penned  as  "  Paradise 
Regained  ;  "  and  he  had  in  his  mind  from  his  boyhood  the 
conception  of  a  life  and  death  which  he  accomplished,  and 
might  have  written,  as  the  world's  great  epic.  Yet  Christ 
never  wrote  epic  or  tragedy. 

You  have  never  thought  of  Christ  as  general :  yet  mobs 
became  pliant  in  his  hands  ;  they  saw  a  leader  in  him  ;  he 
spoke  with  authority,  and  men  feared  him.  In  one  momen- 
tary gleam  of  thought,  he  imagines  himself  leading  and  using 
legions  of  angels.  With  a  general's  skill,  he  reduced  in  a 
few  minutes  a  confused  multitude  to  order  by  seating  five 
thousand  in  companies  of  fifty.  Yet  Christ  never  would  lead 
an  army. 

It  is  difficult  to  think  of  the  Man  of  sorrows  as  a  tempo- 
ral king :  yet  his  disciples,  as  we  know,  for  a  long  time  could 
think  of  him  in  no  other  light ;  the  people  "  would  make  him 
king."  He  could  start  at  will  a  triumphal  procession  into 
the  nation's  capital ;  he  made  Herod  and  Pilate  feel  like  ser- 


668  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

vants  when  he  addressed  them.  Yet  Jesus  would  not  mount 
a  throne. 

You  have  never  thought  of  Jesus  as  a  great  orator :  yet 
the  common  people  heard  him  gladly  on  spiritual  subjects, 
the  most  difficult,  perhaps,  of  all.  And  an  opponent  said, 
"  Never  man  spake  like  this  man."  But  Jesus  never  tried  to 
astonish  admiring  audiences  by  his  eloquence. 

We  cannot  think  of  Jesus  first  of  all  as  a  philanthropist ; 
but  Shaeffer  paints  him  as  he  was,  CJiinstiLs  Coiisolator,  his 
hands  outstretched,  dropping  balm  and  benediction  upon  all 
classes.     Yet  Jesus  did  not  worship  humanity. 

You  have  never  thought  of  Jesus  as  possessing  a  scien- 
tific mind  :  yet  how  carefully  he  had  noted  the  smallest  seed, 
the  weather  signs  in  the  sky,  the  habits  of  the  eagle  !  But 
Jesus  never  pretended  to  teach  science.  We  do  not  think 
of  Jesus,  as  we  do  of  Emerson,  as  an  analyst  of  mind  and 
character :  yet,  when  we  reflect,  we  feel  that  he  read  clear 
through  at  a  glance,  discriminatively  and  appreciatively,  the 
mind  and  motive  of  every  man  who  passed  before  him,  — 
judged  Herod  instantly  as  a  "  fox,"  and  John  the  Baptist  the 
greatest  of  the  prophets ;  and  chose  his  prime  disciples, 
Peter,  James,  John,  unerringly  as  "  pillars  of  the  Church,"  and 
Paul  as  unerringly  for  a  "  chosen  vessel  to  bear  his  name 
among  the  nations."  Yet  Jesus  does  not  make  reading  of 
character  his  specialty. 

Thus  the  germs  and  manifestations  of  all  intellectual  energy 
were  in  Jesus.  He  might  have  been  poet,  general,  scientist, 
orator ;  but  he  gave  them  all  up,  that  he  might  be  what  he 
alone  could  be  to  this  world,  —  Saviour.  His  powers  gleamed 
out  in  his  work  incidentally,  but  he  made  no  display  of  them. 
He  was  great  in  what  he  did  not  do,  as  well  as  in  what  he 
did. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  669 

EDWARD    B.    MASON. 

[Sermons  by  the  Monday  Club.     Fourteenth  Series.     Boston,  1SS9.     Pp.  66-69.] 

When  Jesus,  having  been  a  long  time  away,  came  back 
again  to  his  own  country  and  to  his  own  city,  the  people 
there  only  saw  a  poor  man  followed  by  poor  men.  Flesh 
and  blood  revealed  nothing  unto  them.  No  halo  of  glory 
encircled  his  head.  There  was  nothing  to  distinguish  him 
from  those  who  were  with  him.  What  beauty  or  moral 
loveliness  any  man  is  able  to  see  in  Christ,  depends  almost 
wholly  upon  what  light  is  shining  in  at  the  time  upon  his 
own  spirit.  An  untutored  savage,  looking  up  into  the  heavens 
at  nieht,  fails  to  see  what  the  learned  astronomer  sees. 
Great  discoveries  of  truth  are  made  not  to  the  body,  but 
to  the  spirit.  Newton  had  seen  a  thousand  apples  fall  to  the 
ground  without  learning  any  thing  from  the  sight ;  but  at 
last  he  saw  one  fall  which  showed  him  something  he  had 
never  perceived  before.  Spiritual  things  are  spiritually  dis- 
cerned. 

Nevertheless  the  coming  of  this  poor  man  produced  a 
great  sensation  in  Nazareth.  He  was  a  Nazarene  among 
Nazarenes.  He  had  come  back  to  his  own  countr}^  His 
name  was  ringing  through  the  land.  His  fame  had  gone 
into  all  the  region.  Crowds  followed  him  from  city  to  city, 
and  into  the  desert  places  :  they  hung  upon  his  lips,  eager  to 
catch  every  word  ;  they  sought  to  touch  even  the  hem  of  his 
garment,  thinking  that  virtue  would  come  out  upon  them  and 
heal  them.  This  mighty  Teacher  and  Healer  had  come  back 
to  the  town  in  which  he  had  been  brought  up. 

And  when  the  sabbath  was  come,  he  entered  the  syna- 
gogue, as  his  custom  was,  and  began  to  teach.  Many  were 
out  that  day.  Hearing  him,  they  "  were  astonished,  saying, 
Whence  hath  this  man  these  things  ?  and,  What  is  the  wis- 
dom that  is  given  unto  this  man,  and  what  mean  such  mighty 
works  wrought  by  his  hands  ? " 


670  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

Here  was  something  not  to  be  accounted  for  in  the  ordi- 
nary way ;  something  not  in  their  books.  It  was  common 
enough  to  find  a  man  with  less  wisdom  and  power  than  he 
oiio-ht  to  have,  but  here  was  one  who  had  more  wisdom  and 
power  than  his  teachers.  He  had  more  wisdom  and  power 
than  circumstances  seemed  to  warrant.  The  authority  and 
force  of  his  teaching  went  beyond  any  thing  they  had  heard. 
He  had  ventured  to  surpass  their  trachtions.  The  wisdom 
and  power  they  could  not  deny.  All  who  heard  him  were 
astonished  and  charmed  by  the  gracious  words  proceeding 
out  of  his  mouth. 

Whence  did  he  get  such  wisdom  ?  By  what  power  were 
such  mighty  works  wrought  ?  He  came  from  no  accredited 
school  ;  he  had  upon  himself  the  stamp  of  no  master  in 
Israel ;  there  was  absolutely  no  one  to  vouch  for  him,  and 
he  spoke  wholly  on  his  own  account.  He  had  been  appro- 
bated by  no  association,  ordained  by  no  council,  and  was 
without  sanction  from  the  doctors.  All  this  was  irregular  and 
unpardonable.  What  right  had  a  carpenter  to  instruct  them 
in  the  things  of  the  kingdom  of  God?  "Is  not  this  the 
carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary,  and  brother  of  James  and  Joses 
and  Judas  and  Simon  ?  and  are  not  his  sisters  here  with  us  ?" 
The  fact  that  his  sisters  were  there  with  them,  was,  of  course, 
the  best  of  reasons  why  they  should  refuse  to  listen  to  his 
heavenly  wisdom. 

'*  To  assign,"  says  Coleridge,  "  a  feeling  and  a  determina- 
tion of  will  as  a  satisfactory  reason  for  embracing  or  rejecting 
this  or  that  opinion  or  belief,  is  of  ordinary  occurrence,  and 
sure  to  obtain  the  sympathy  and  suffrages  of  the  company." 
This  method  of  proceeding,  Coleridge  goes  on  to  say  in  the 
same  note,  "  seems  little  less  irrational  than  to  apply  the  nose 
to  a  picture,  and  to  decide  on  its  genuineness  by  the  sense 
of  smell."  Perhaps  such  proceedings  are  not  unheard  of  in 
our  own  day.  It  may  be  that  Christ  is  now  rejected  for  no 
better  reason.  He  was  one  of  their  own  number,  a  man  like 
themselves :  therefore  they  would  not  hear  him.     They  were 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  67 1 

offended  in  him.     They  had   not  yet  learned  that   truth   so 
finely  expressed  by  Browning  :  — 

"  O  Soul  !  it  shall  be 
A  face  like  my  face  that  receives  thee  ;  a  man  like  to  me, 
Thou  shalt  love  and  be  loved  by  forever ;  a  hand  like  this  hand 
Shall  throw  open  the  gates  of  new  life  to  thee.     See  the  Christ  stand." 

They  saw  the  Christ  stand  in  the  streets  of  their  own 
village,  but  he  seemed  to  them  only  a  poor  man.  No  light 
was  shining  in  on  their  spirits.  Perhaps  the  evil  suggestions 
of  envious  Jews  were  right.  Possibly  he  had  a  devil,  and  did 
his  mighty  works  by  the  power  of  Beelzebub.  So  the  scribes 
had  said.  Their  amazement  turned  rapidly  to  hostility.  Did 
he  come  by  his  knowledge  and  eloquence  in  fair  and  honest 
ways  ?  Might  it  not  be  unhallowed  wisdom  ?  No  wonder 
Jesus  said,  "  A  prophet  is  not  without  honor  save  in  his  own 
country." 

The  same  blindness  and  folly  appear  on  a  smaller  scale 
in  our  own  day.  Some  years  ago  Professor  Wilson  wrote, 
that,  "As  the  Northern  Highlanders  do  not  admire  Waverley, 
so,  I  presume,  the  South  Highlanders  despise  Guy  Manner- 
ing.  The  Westmoreland  peasants  think  Wordsworth  a  fool. 
In  Borrowdale,  Southey  is  not  known  to  exist.  I  met  ten 
men  in  Hawick  who  do  not  think  Hogg  a  poet ;  and  the 
whole  city  of  Glasgow  think  me  a  madman."  .  .  . 

Into  strange  and  foreign  countries  must  the  gospel  go,  to 
find  willing  and  obedient  hearts.  He  who  marvelled  at  the 
great  faith  found  not  in  Israel,  but  in  the  breast  of  a  Roman 
centurion,  marvelled  also  at  the  great  lack  of  faith  shown  by 
those  who  lived  in  his  own  country.  He  had  not  expected 
to  be  so  disappointed  in  them.  He  really  marvelled,  with  a 
feeling  of  genuine  surprise.  A  great  light  was  shining  in 
the  darkness,  and  it  was  not  taken  down  into  the  darkness ; 
the  darkness  comprehended  it  not. 


672  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

WILLARD   G.    SPERRY. 

[Sermons  by  the  Monday  Club.     Fourteenth   Series.     Boston  :   1SS9.     Pp.  17S-1S0.I 

The  Pharisees,  with  a  few  honorable  exceptions,  were 
hostile  to  Christ  during-  his  ministry.  They  were  a  party 
much  more  numerous  than  the  Sadducees,  and  nearer  to  the 
hearts  of  the  common  people.  The  elders  and  scribes  and 
"the  members  of  the  great  council  were  Pharisees.  These 
were  more  patriotic,  more  zealous  in  religion,  more  merciful 
as  judges,  than  their  rivals.  And  yet  they  were  spiritually 
blind,  and  so  were  unfit  to  be  religious  leaders.  They  were 
hypocrites,  personating  a  holy  character  which  was  not  their 
own. 

It  is  very  remarkable  that  our  Lord  nevfer  tried  to  conciliate 
them.  He  never  excused  their  faults  or  extolled  their  virtues. 
To  him  their  religious  zeal  was  detestable.  "  Ye  compass  sea 
and  land  to  make  one  proselyte,  and  when  he  is  made,  ye 
make  him  twofold  more  the  child  of  hell  than  yourselves." 
The  twenty-third  chapter  of  Matthew  records  seven  woes 
which  he  pronounced  against  them.  Nothing  in  the  denun- 
ciations of  John  the  Baptist  approaches  in  awful  severity 
this  arraignment  of  the  Pharisees.  Christ  never  souo-ht  or 
accepted  their  patronage.  No  doubt  he  would  have  welcomed 
them  as  disciples,  —  with  one  who  came  to  him  by  night,  he 
conversed  calmly  and  kindly, — but  they  seemed  to  him  the 
most  hopeless  class  with  which  he  had  to  deal,  and  with 
unsparing  hand  he  hurled  against  them  the  thunderbolts  of 
righteous  indignation.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  Pharisees 
hated  Christ  intensely. 

They  watched  him,  sent  spies  to  entangle  him  in  his  talk ; 
and,  failing  to  make  headway  against  his  teaching  and  inilu- 
ence,  resolved  to  compass  his  death.  It  boded  no  good  to 
the  cause  of  justice,  when  Sadducees  and  Pharisees,  laying 
aside  for  the  time  their  hatred  of  each  other,  united  against 
him. 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  673 

TJie  motive  ivas  envy.  Two  Evangelists  have  been  careful 
to  tell  us  that  the  chief  priests  were  "  moved  with  envy,"  and 
that  the  motive  was  known  to  Pilate, 

The  earthly  life  of  the  Son  of  God  was  in  many  respects  so 
unenviable  that  the  thought  of  envy  at  first  occasions  surprise. 
He  was  a  man  of  Nazareth  ;  at  home  a  carpenter,  and  abroad 
a  humble  wayfarer.  He  had  no  advantage  of  wealth  or 
station.  He  made  no  attempt  to  secure  the  patronage  of  civil 
or  religious  leaders.  He  was  far  too  modest  and  unpretending 
to  use  any  politic  arts  for  the  sake  of  pushing  his  claims.  His 
limited  successes  in  preaching  the  Gospel  of  his  kingdom 
were  chiefly  among  poor  and  despised  classes.  How  came 
it  about,  then,  that  rich  and  haughty  Sadducees  envied  him  ? 
The  truth  is,  that  envy  is  a  passion  of  blacker  face  than  the 
mere  feeling  of  disquiet  at  sight  of  the  worldly  success  of 
others.  In  a  heart  which  is  wholly  at  peace  with  God,  and 
which  delights  in  him,  envy  cannot  find  a  place.  The  feeling 
of  pain  or  discontent  in  view  of  the  goodness  or  happiness  or 
power  of  another,  will  not  be  likely  to  enter,  and  it  cannot 
remain,  in  the  heart  which  keeps  itself  "  in  the  love  of  God." 
"  Love  envieth  not."  But  the  heart  that  is  apart  from  God 
and  unreconciled  to  him,  lacking  a  worthy  object  for  its  affec- 
tion, is  a  prey  to  unrest.  Sometimes  it  must  needs  be  discon- 
tented. And  then  the  sight  of  spiritual  peace  and  happiness 
in  others  awakens  that  sense  of  lack  and  that  pain  of  contrast 
which  we  call  envy. 

It  may  be  hardly  more  than  a  tinge  of  feeling,  or  it  may 
grow  to  be  a  dominant  and  malignant  passion.  Lord  Bacon 
said  :  "  A  man  that  hath  no  virtue  in  himself  ever  envieth 
virtue  in  others,  for  men's  minds  will  either  feed  upon  their 
own  good  or  upon  others'  evil  ;  and  who  wanteth  the  one  will 
prey  upon  the  other ;  and  whoso  is  out  of  hope  to  attain 
another's  virtue,  will  seek  to  come  at  even  hand  by  depressing 
another's  fortune."  It  is  not  strange,  then,  that  in  the  disor- 
dered souls  of  men  in  every  age  the  base  passion  of  envy  has 
had  a  large  place.     Cain  looked  with  envious  eyes  upon  Abel, 


674  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

unto  whose  offering  "  the  Lord  had  respect."  The  patriarchs 
envied  Joseph  because  he  was  the  son  of  Israel's  old  age, 
and  especially  beloved.  Unjust  citizens  of  Athens  voted  for 
the  banishment  of  Aristides  the  Just.  Themistocles  envied 
him,  and  aroused  an  envious  hatred  in  the  hearts  of  others. 
A  whole  chapter  of  moral  philosophy  is  contained  in  the  case 
of  that  ignorant  man,  who,  when  about  to  vote  for  the  banish- 
ment of  Aristides,  was  asked  if  Aristides  had  done  him  wrong. 
"  No,"  he  replied,  "  and  I  do  not  even  know  him;  but  it  irri- 
tates me  to  hear  him  everywhere  called  The  JustT 

In  like  manner  the  wisdom  and  goodness  and  power  of 
our  Lord  irritated  the  Sadducees.  They  came  to  look  upon 
it  all  as  a  personal  injury.  How  could  they  maintain  their 
place  as  spiritual  leaders,  and  keepers  of  the  law,  if  he  were 
allowed  to  teach  in  the  temple  ?  Their  envy  darkened  into 
malignant  hatred.  Envy  nailed  Christ  to  the  cross.  Whenever 
we  feel  the  smallest  stir  of  envy  within  our  own  souls,  we 
ought  to  implore  the  loving  Spirit  of  God  to  drive  it  out.  For 
envy  is  a  cancerous  malady.  It  "  keeps  no  holidays."  Well 
saith  the  proverb,  "  A  sound  heart  is  the  life  of  the  flesh ;  but 
envy  is  the  rottenness  of  the  bones." 


C.  J.    VAUGHAN. 

[University  Sermons.     London:  iS88.     Pp.  47-51.] 

Take  into  your  hand  one  of  these  four  biographies  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Come  afresh,  as  far  as  possible,  out  of  the 
light  of  previous  faith  and  previous  knowledge.  If  I  had 
this  only,  what  should  I  think  of  Christ  ?  Stand  in  the  first 
place  at  some  distance  from  the  picture  ;  lose  its  separate 
lines,  and  view  it  only  in  its  effect.  If  this  were  all  I  knew, 
what  should  I  think  of  Christ  ? 

I  am  struck  first  of  all  by  hi'-  conformity  with  the  name 
by  which  he  commonly  described  himself,  that  of  the  "  Son 
of  man."     I  am  struck  in  every  sense  by  his  humanity.     Such 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  675 

a  man,  such  a  real  man,  in  every  sense  :  so  manly,  so  manful, 
so  humane,  so  human.  Such  a  strength,  such  a  tenderness, 
such  help,  such  sympathy,  such  power,  such  love.  So  I  run 
on  ;  and  I  love  to  do  so,  because  I  am  persuaded  that  it  is  in 
such  general  reflections  as  these  that  the  foundation  of  faith 
is  laid.  We  must  begin  with  the  Son  of  man,  before  we 
can  hope  to  end  with  the  Son  of  God.  "  What  think  ye  of 
Christ  ?  Whose  Son  is  he  ? "  We  must  speak  of  him  as 
David's  Son,  before  we  can  rise  to  the  contemplation  of  him 
as  David's  Lord. 

Let  me  draw  out  this  conception  into  a  few  particulars. 
I  am  perplexed  where  to  begin  :  let  me  begin  anywhere ;  it 
matters  not. 

( 1 )  What  a  force  of  will !  Who  ever  said  of  him  that  he 
was  not  firm,  first  of  all,  with  himself?  Who  ever  pretended 
to  say  that  he  was  not  holy,  self-governed,  his  own  master, 
resolute  to  deny  himself  that  which  was  wrong,  absolute  in 
his  refusal  ever  to  indulge  himself  to  the  neglect  of  duty, 
perfect  in  his  control  over  the  power  of  temptation  ?  Stand 
forth,  ye  his  enemies,  and  cast  a  stone,  if  you  can,  at  the 
spotlessness  of  his  character ! 

(2)  What  a  perfect  sincerity!  When  did  he  ever  stoop 
to  the  language  of  complaisance  or  flattery?  In  what  in- 
stance did  he  ever  call  a  word  or  an  act  by  a  false  name  ? 
How  boldly  did  rebuke  vice !  If  I  might  say  it  (and  you 
know  that  I  do  say  it)  with  entire  reverence,  what  an  exam- 
ple was  he  of  our  English  virtues !  That  perfect  straight- 
forwardness, that  freedom  from  artifice  and  from  finesse,  that 
directness  of  purpose,  and  that  plainness  of  speech  —  oh,  let 
us  not  fail  to  recognize  in  him  who  is  called  in  prophetic 
language  "  the  Desire  of  all  nations,"  the  desire,  the  satisfac- 
tion, the  resting-place,  of  this  ! 

(3)  Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  what  a  tenderness  of  feeling, 
what  a  gentleness  of  spirit !  It  is  not  often  that  strength  and 
sweetness  meet  in  one  person  :  when  they  do  meet,  the 
union,  even  the  imperfect  union  such  as  we  see  it  sometimes 


676  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

in  ,man,  is  irresistibly  attractive.  But  when  were  these  two 
quahties  ever  so  united  as  they  were  in  Christ  ?  The  sight 
of  suffering  —  of  bodily  suffering,  of  mental  suffering,  of 
spiritual  suffering  —  touched  him  to  the  quick.  And  yet  his 
own  life  was  a  life  of  suffering  made  up  of  all  these.  He 
himself  hungered  ;  no  stone  would  he  turn  into  bread  for  his 
own  relief.  But  when  he  saw  the  multitudes  distressed  for 
food  in  a  desert  place,  instantly  he  had  compassion,  and  could 
not  bear  to  let  them  depart  without  a  bountiful,  if  it  were 
even  a  miraculous,  supply.  He  was  houseless  and  homeless  ; 
he  was  lonely  in  heart ;  he  was  falsely  accused ;  he  was 
scorned  and  taunted  and  malisfned  :  all  these  things  he  re- 
ceived  as  his  daily  portion,  and  saw  in  them  the  very  cup 
of  sorrow  which  his  Father  gave  for  his  drinking.  But  when 
he  saw  another's  soul  sad,  or  suffering,  or  sorrow-laden,  the 
sympathy  which  he  asked  not  for  himself  was  ever  ready  on 
his  part  for  another. 

(4)  And  thus  we  reach  the  unselfishness  of  his  character. 
What  a  life  of  self-denial,  of  self-sacrifice,  of  self-forgetful- 
ness,  was  his  !  What  a  long  and  weary  day  was  each  one  of 
the  days  of  that  life !  From  early  morning  till  late  evening, 
he  v/as  ministerino-  to  others  ;  teaching,  healino-,  listenincr  to 
sorrows,  and  relieving  them  ;  opening  heavenly  things  to  the 
ignorant  and  the  earthly-minded,  and  then  turning  to  make 
earth  itself  less  dreary  to  the  careworn  and  the  broken- 
hearted. He  never  said  to  any  one  that  he  was  too  hungry, 
or  too  weary,  or  too  sad  at  heart,  to  attend  to  him,  and  that 
instantly.  On  his  way  to  the  house  of  mourning,  he  is 
thronged  and  pressed  by  conflicting  applications.  Never 
did  he  express  impatience  of  any  importunity ;  never  did 
he  ask  a  moment's  respite  from  the  oppressive  monotony 
of  supplication, 

(5)  And  look,  once  again,  at  the  humility  of  the  charac- 
ter ;  the  absence  of  all  parade  and  all  display  in  its  benevo- 
lence. Many  men  and  many  women,  living  a  life  of  devoted 
charity,   have  been   the   heralds   of  their  own   virtues ;    with 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  677 

whatever  professions  of  humility,  they  have  taken  pains  to 
let  others  hear  of  their  deeds :  sometimes  they  have  been 
visibly  elated  by  their  own  triumphs,  and  have  shown  a  sen- 
sitiveness to  reproof  or  disparagement  contrasting  somewhat 
painfully  with  loud  professions  of  self-knowledge  and  self- 
abasement.  How  unlike  is  this  to  him  whose  servants  they 
call  themselves !  Those  repeated  charges  to  the  subjects  of 
his  marvellous  cures,  that  they  should  not  make  him  known  ; 
that  habit  of  withdrawinor  himself  from  admirinof  crowds,  and 
refusing  popular  demonstrations  ;  that  description  of  him,  in 
the  words  of  prophecy,  by  an  eye-witness  of  his  ministry, 
"  He  shall  not  strive  nor  cry,  neither  shall  any  man  hear 
his  voice  in  the  streets,"  —  do  not  these  things  add  a  yet 
further  mark  of  perfection  to  that  unexampled  character,  and 
crown  with  a  distinctive  glory  the  person  of  the  Son  of 
man  ? 

(6)  And  then  we  pass  to  the  elevation  of  Christ's  charac- 
ter. What  a  superiority  we  see  in  him  to  all  the  infirmities, 
and  to  all  the  littlenesses,  of  human  nature  !  How  did  he 
rise  above  all  considerations  of  earthly  position  and  advan- 
tage !  What  an  indifference  did  he  show  to  the  inconven- 
iences,  and  to  the  slights,  of  poverty !  With  what  a  majesty 
of  conscious  independence  did  he  confront  the  arrogance 
alike  of  temporal  and  of  spiritual  authority,  —  giving  honor 
where  honor  was  due,  but  assertinof  for  himself  that  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  will  which  is  the  attribute  and  birthright  of 
man  !  How  did  he  dignify  and  ennoble  the  state  of  the  poor, 
and  equalize  (in  the  only  just  sense)  all  ranks  and  conditions 
of  men  in  reference  to  the  two  chief  tribunals,  of  God  and 
of  conscience  !  And  how  did  he  show  in  his  own  example 
the  perfect  compatibility  of  this  moral  and  spiritual  equality 
with  the  most  entire  obedience  to  law,  and  the  most  becoming 
respect  for  station  and  office  !  For  this  reason,  it  may  be, 
amongst  others,  he  chose  for  himself  upon  earth  the  condi- 
tion of  the  workingman  and  of  the  poor,  that  he  might  show 
forth  at  once  the  duty  and  the  dignity  of  that  largest  class  of 


678  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN  CENTURIES 

mankind  :  its  duty  in  obedience,  its  dignity  in  free  will  ;  its 
duty  in  observing  order,  and  in  paying  respect  to  power ;  its 
dignity  in  being  inwardly,  in  heart  and  in  soul,  not  the  servant 
of  man,  but  of  God  only. 


WILLIAM    ELLIOT    GRIFFIS. 

[Sermons  by  the  Monday  Club.     Thirteenth  Series.     Boston:  1SS8.     Tp- 32-36,  39.] 

Jesus  in  Phoenicia !  To  the  Jerusalem  Jews,  this  north 
land  was  a  sink  of  idolatry.  Even  the  Galilseans  spoke  of 
their  frontagers  as  "  dogs,"  "  heathen,"  "  unclean,"  "  outcasts." 
Uncircumcised  aliens,  left  unextirpated  by  Joshua  and  his 
conquering  soldiers,  were  these  Gentiles.  Out  of  this  ill- 
omened  quarter  had  come  Ethbaal  and  Jezebel,  and  the 
priests  of  Astarte,  border-ruffians  in  the  days  of  the  judges, 
and  the  raiders  who  in  the  days  of  the  kings  had  desolated 
Israel.  Apparently  only  twice  was  Syrian  contact  wholesome 
to  the  Holy  Land  and  people.  These  were  when  Hiram  the 
king  and  Hiram  the  architect,  with  Phoenician  lumber  and 
Phoenician  art,  contributed  to  the  glory  of  Solomon's  temple, 
and  again  when  Elisha  won  trophies  of  grace  in  Naaman 
and  his  company.  Except  one  or  two  bright  lines  of  asso- 
ciation, the  whole  spectrum  of  memory  was  that  of  darkness. 
Added  to  all  else  was  the  thought  of  Phoenicia,  the  slave-land 
to  which  Judah's  children  had  been  sold  in  the  days  of  Joel. 

We,  who  are  not  bound  to  inherit  the  prejudices  of 
bigoted  Jews,  have  mental  associations  quite  different.  To  us, 
Phoenicians  are  equally  human  with  Jews  or  Samaritans.  We 
remember  that  Phoenicia  gave  us  alphabets,  inventors,  bold 
navigators  who  sailed  even  to  Britain ;  while  to  the  inartistic 
Jews  she  gave  artists,  sculptors,  decorators,  jewellers,  and 
even  the  very  letters  with  which  Holy  Scripture  was  written. 
We  remember  that  the  father  of  the  Jews  was  once  "  a 
Syrian  ready  to  perish  ;  "  that  to  Sarcpta,  as  Jesus  recalled, 
came  Elijah  to  bring  relief,  and  himself  to  receive  succor  from 


TO  JESUS   OF  NAZARETH.  679 

a  poor  widow ;  that  the  elect  leper,  saved  by  faith,  was  of  the 
same  nation.  To  us,  taught  by  the  Saviour  of  all  mankind, 
a  Syro-Phoenician  woman  is  as  human  as  is  a  Hebrew. 

Driven  out  by  heresy-hunters,  hounded  by  malignant 
Pharisees,  Jesus  would  escape  for  a  while  the  turbulence  of 
Galilee,  consequent  upon  the  execution  of  John  the  Baptist, 
and  seek  seclusion  on  the  edge  of  his  native  land. 

Though  that  part  of  the  earth  in  Palestine  trodden  by  the 
man  Jesus  is  no  larger  than  the  State  of  Delaware,  yet  this 
village  to  which  he  came  was  probably  the  northern  limit  of 
the  Christ's  journeyings.  Only  once,  as  a  babe,  a  refugee  to 
Egypt,  had  Jesus  been  outside  of  Palestine.  His  temporary 
home  was  now,  most  probably,  not  beyond  the  border-line. 
Yet  even  here  was  his  privacy  intruded  upon.  Necessity  of 
mother-woe  knew  no  law.  A  woman,  a  mother,  had  seen  and 
felt  so  profoundly  the  sorrow  of  another,  even  a  child,  that  it 
had  become  her  own.  Yet  vicarious  mental  suffering  had 
brought  no  relief  to  the  body  of  the  pain-racked  child.   .  .  . 

How  much  of  selfishness,  how  much  of  convenience,  was 
there  in  the  disciples'  importunate  request,  "  Send  her  away, 
for  she  crieth  after  us  "  !  There  was  not  much  patience,  we 
trow,  in  this.  It  was  a  ready  way  of  getting  rid  of  a  possible 
"  scene."  There  is  no  ring  of  truth  in  their  easy  solution 
of  the  trouble  in  hand.  It  reminds  us  too  much  of  Caiaphas. 
How  often  in  this  life  do  we  find  proffered  politeness  a  stiletto 
thrust,  while  under  seeming  severity  lurks  love !  Faithful  are 
the  wounds  of  a  friend. 

Even  the  answer  of  Jesus,  when  made,  seems  to  repel.  It 
is  Jewish,  or,  if  of  the  quality  of  ordinary'  human  nature,  is 
like  that  of  the  Sychar  woman,  and  not  of  the  good  Samari- 
tan. Quite  different  from  his  "  Other  sheep  have  I."  The 
case  for  the  mother  seems  desperate.  She  must  be  bolder 
than  Esther,  to  proceed  further.  Yet  we  should  like  to  have 
seen  his  face  as  he  said,  "  It  is  not  meet  to  take  the  children's 
meat,  and  cast  it  to  the  dogs." 

Evidently  she   studied   that   face.     She  comes   near,  aiid 


68o  TESTIMONY  OF  NINETEEN   CENTURIES 

worships  him.  She  has  learned  what  the  Son  of  man  wanted 
her  to  know  and  to  do  truly.  He  was  to  her  no  longer  a 
wonder-working  Jewish  Messiah.  The  preconceived  Christ 
of  vulgar  tradition  and  Judaean  expectancy  faded  from  her 
thoughts.  She  saw  the  Son  of  man,  the  Saviour  of  all  men. 
Dropping  then  a  borrowed  form  of  words,  ignorantly  used, 
she  cries  out,  "  Lord,  help  me  !  " 

To  such  of  the  disciples  and  spectators,  if  any,  who  sympa- 
thized with  the  woman,  the  answer  of  Jesus  must  have  seemed 
a  dark  saying  ;  but  to  the  woman  with  the  "  ready  wit  of  faith," 
it  was  a  parable,  a  lamp  that  struck  a  long  bright  ray  of  hope 
on  her  path.  Literature,  with  all  her  treasures  of  ages  and 
nations,  contains  no  pearl  more  lustrous  than  this  conversa- 
tion :  — 

Jcsiis.  —  It  is  not  proper  to  take  the  children's  loaf,  and 
throw  it  to  the  dogs. 

Woman.  —  No,  but  just  as  you  say,  Lord  ;  for  the  pet 
does  do  eat  the  crumbs  which  fall  from  their  masters'  tables. 

Like  a  skilful  musician  she  had  caught  the  strain  and 
finished  the  strophe.  To  the  Jewish  ear,  the  Master  had 
begun  to  tell  a  parable  of  the  elect  and  reprobate,  cov^enant 
and  aliens,  of  the  home  and  the  outcasts,  of  the  children  and 
the  curs.  She,  with  her  faith's  power  and  in  the  light  of  that 
eye,  read  between  the  lines  the  tiny  parable  of  the  children 
and  their  pets,  even  the  parable  of  humanity  and  its  Saviour. 
Her  gentleness  had  made  her  great ;  her  trust  had  made  her 
mighty.  No  longer  Canaanitish  or  Syro-Phcenician,  she  is 
forever  in  sacred  story  as  the  woman  great  of  faith,  on  whose 
will  was  laid  answer  to  prayer  from  the  Holy  One  of  God. 
Her  heart  ringing  chimes  of  joy,  she  goes  homeward  to  fmd 
her  daughter  no  longer  demon-smitten  and  possessed,  but  laid 
in  rest,  thougli  prostrate,  "  upon  her  bed."  .  .  . 

How  sharply  contrasting  are  the  scenes  of  modern  Chris- 
tendom with  those  of  the  ancient  world,  —  of  London  and  New 
York,  with  Benares  and  Canton  ;  of  Christian  with  Pagan 
lands!     How   manifold   are   the   charities   of   the    civilization 


TO  JESUS    OF  NAZARETH.  68 1 

based  on  the  Bible  !  "  Buddhism  covered  China  with  monas- 
teries and  images;  Christianity  covered  Europe  with  churches 
and  charitable  institutions,"  says  Edkins,  long  resident  in  the 
Middle  Kingdom.  Yet  the  spirit  of  Jesus  has  caused  the 
asylum  and  hospital  and  life-saving  station  to  spring  up. 
Christendom  but  repeats  the  scenes  of  healing  on  the 
Galilaean  hills.  Now,  as  then,  Jesus  is  the  centre.  In  every 
missionary  dispensary,  where,  as  of  old,  the  blind,  dumb,  halt, 
diseased,  and  possessed  of  mysterious  malady,  are  cast  at  the 
physician's  feet  to  be  healed,  Christ  is  there,  for  he  sent 
missionary  and  physician.  We  believe  in  the  faith-cure, 
rightly  understood.  We  rejoice  also  in  every  real  discovery 
or  improvement  in  science,  anaesthetics,  surgery,  and  medi- 
cine, for  "  this  also  cometh  forth  from  the  Lord  of  hosts,  who 
is  wonderful  in  counsel  and  excellent  in  working." 


INDEXES. 


683 


INDEX  OF  AUTHORS. 


Abbott,  Edwin  A.,  320,  424. 
Abbott,  Jacob,  129. 
Abbott,  John  S.  C,  478. 
Abbott,  Lyman,  125. 
Adams,  Nehemiah,  197. 
Alexander,  James  W.,  237. 
Alexander,  William,  614. 
Alexander,  William  L.,  167. 
Allon,  Henry,  173. 
Andrews,  Samuel  J.,  196. 
Armitage,  Thomas,  158. 
Arnold,  Matthew,  374. 
Arnold,  Thomas,  179. 
Auberlen,  Carl  August,  84. 
Augustine,  34. 
Austin,  William,  85. 

Bacon,  Francis,  40. 
Bacon,  Leonard  W.,  583. 
Barker,  Joseph,  260. 
Barnes,  Albert,  203. 
Barrow,  Isaac,  68. 
Barrows,  E.  P.,  273. 
Bartlett,  Samuel  C,  272. 
Bartol,  Cyrus  A.,  477. 
Bathgate,  William,  266. 
Bayne,  Peter,  29S,  343. 
Beard,  Charles,  495. 
Beard,  John  R.,  ui. 
Beecher,  Henry  Ward,  383. 
Bellows,  Henry  Whitney,  242,  591. 
Bernard,  Henry  Norris,  61 1. 
Bernard,  Thomas  D.,  154. 
Bersier,  Eugene,  284. 
Bixby,  James  Thompson,  393. 
Blackie,  John  Stuart,  250. 
Blaikie,  William  Garden,  473. 
BIyden,  Edward  W.,  581. 
Boardman,  George  Dana,  411. 
Bonaparte,  Napoleon,  87. 
Bossuet,  Jacques  Benigne,  43. 


Eougaud,  £mi!e,  536. 
Boyle,  Robert,  81. 
Brace,  Charles  Loring,  475. 
Brooke,  Stopford  A.,  150. 
Brooks,  Arthur,  574. 
Brooks,  Phillips,  315,  431. 
Browne,  Edward  Harold,  300. 
Bruce,  Alexander  Balman,  480. 
Buckminster,  Joseph  Stevens,  96. 
Bulfinch,  Stephen  Greenleaf,  655. 
Bunsen,  Christian  C.  J.,  153. 
Burgh,  James,  79. 
Burnap,  George  W.,  121. 
Bushnell,  Horace,  219. 
Butler,  Joseph,  431. 

Caird,  John,  56S. 
Cairns,  John,  448. 
Campbell,  Alexander,  98. 
Candlish,  Robert  S.,  3S0. 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  169. 
Chaffin,  William  L.,  523. 
Chadwick,  George  A.,  365. 
Chalmers,  Thomas,  94. 
Channing,  William  Ellery,  210,  405. 
Chapin,  Edwin  Hubbell,  244. 
Chateaubriand,  Fran9ois  A.,  63. 
Christlieb,  Theodore,  256. 
Chubb,  Thomas,  45. 
Clarke,  James  Freeman,  393,  470. 
Clement  of  Alexandria,  33. 
Clement  of  Rome,  33. 
Clodd,  Edward,  494. 
Cobbe,  Frances  Power,  356. 
Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor,  105. 
Collier,  Robert  Laird,  246. 
Colenso,  John  William,  598. 
Conder,  Eustace  R.,  316. 
Cook,  F.  C,  3S9. 
Cook,  Joseph,  586. 
Coquerel,  Athanase,  261. 
685 


686 


INDEX   OF  AUTHORS. 


Crosby,  Howard,  438.  . 
Cunningham,  John,  265. 
Cyprian,  36. 

Dale,  R.  W.,  171. 
Delitzsch,  Franz,  141. 
Dewey,  Orville,  243. 
De  Wette,  Wilhelm  M.  L.,  342, 
Dickens,  Charles,  2S9. 
Diman,  J.  Lewis,  146. 
Dorner,  Isaac  August,  550. 
Drummond,  James,  131. 

Eclectic  Review,  276. 
Edersheim,  Alfred,  479. 
Edwards,  Jonathan,  78. 
Emerson,  Ralph  W.,  149. 
Encyclopasdia  Britannica,  446. 
Erskine,  Thomas,  84. 
Evans,  Mark,  640. 
Everett,  Edward,  191. 
Ewald,  Heinrich,  126. 

Faber,  Frederick  W.,  115. 

Fairbairn,  A.  M.,  439,  484. 

Farrar,  Frederick  W.,  290. 

Fichte,  Johann  G.,  62. 

Fisher,  George  Park,  143,  664. 

Foss,  Cyrus  D.,  351. 

Foster,  John,  85. 

Fowle,  Thomas  Welbanke,  352,  531. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  60. 

Furness,  William  Henry,  363. 

Gannett,  Ezra  Stiles,  377. 

Geikie,  Cunningham,  294. 

Gibson,  John  Monro,  501. 

Gladden,  Washington,  647. 

Gladstone,  William  Evvart,  217. 

Godet,  Frederick,  320,  518. 

Godman,  William  D.,  409. 

Goethe,  Johann  W.,  285. 

Goodwin,  Henry  M.,  164. 

Gospel  for  the  Nineteenth  Century,  631. 

Greg,  William  Rathbone,  175. 

Greenleaf,  Simon,  313. 

Griflis,  William  Elliot,  678. 

Griffitii,  Tiiomas,  418. 

Griffiths,  William,  372. 

Grotius,  Hugo,  39. 

Guizot,  Fran9ois  V.  G.,  65. 

Hall,  Newman,  278. 
Hall,  Robert,  82. 


Hanna,  William.  86. 
Hardvvick,  Charles,  255. 
Harris,  John,  302. 
Harris,  Samuel,  595. 
Hartley,  David,  80. 
Hase,  Karl,  109. 
Hausrath,  Adolf,  499. 
Hayward,  Edward  Farwell,  511. 
Hedge,  Frederic  Henry,  275,  429. 
Hegel,  Georg  W.  F.,  64. 
Hill,  George,  187. 
Hill,  Thomas,  504. 
Hinsdale,  Burke  Aaron,  652. 
Hodge,  Charles,  142. 
Hooker,  Richard,  46. 
Hopkins,  Mark,  326. 
Hughes,  Thomas,  174. 
Huntington,  Frederick  D.,  319. 
Hulton,  Richard  Holt,  434. 

Ignatius,  37. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  50. 
Johnson,  Herrick,  152. 
Johnson,  Samuel,  49. 
Josephus,  Flavius,  38. 

Kant,  Immanuel,  51. 
Keim,  Theodor,  551. 
Kenipis,  Thomas  a,  40. 
King,  Thomas  Starr,  247. 
Kingsley,  Charles,  202. 

Lacordaire,  Jean  B.  H.,  156. 
Lange,  Johann  Peter,  162. 
Law,  Edmund,  66. 
Law,  W'illiam,  72. 
Leathcs,  Stanley,  2S8. 
Lecky,  William  E.  H.,  170,  376. 
Lee,J.  W.,  5:9. 
Leighton,  Robert,  59. 
Lesley,  J.  Peter,  600. 
Liddon,  Henry  Parry,  333. 
Livcrmore,  Abbott  A.,  370. 
LocJve,  John,  75,  402. 
Lorimer,  George  C,  493,  542. 
Lotze,  Hermann,  588. 
Lowrie,  John  M.,  296. 
Luthardt,  Ch.  Ernst,  177. 
Luther,  Martin,  38. 

Macaulav,  Thomas  B.,  180. 
MacDonald,  George,  416. 
MacLarcn,  Alexander,  225. 


INDEX   OF  AUTHORS. 


687 


Magee,  William  Connor,  556. 
Magoon,  Elisha  L.,  151. 
Martyr,  Justin,  37. 
Martensen,  Hans  Lassen,  559. 
Martineau,  James,  341,  382,  433. 
Mason,  Arthur  James,  603. 
Mason,  Edward  B.,  669. 
Massillon,  Jean  B.,  45. 
Matheson,  George,  396. 
McCosh,  James,  226. 
Mill,  John  Stuart,  324. 
Milman,  Henry  Hart,  139. 
Moorhouse,  J.,  163. 
Mozoomdar,  Protap  Chunder,  441. 
Mulford,  Elisha,  445. 
Miiller,  Julius,  217. 
Munger,  Theodore  T.,  456. 
Murphy,  Joseph  J.,  165. 

Naville,  Ernest,  128. 
Neander,  Johann  A.,  91. 
Newcome,  William,  56. 
Nicoll,  W.  R.,  140. 
Norton,  Andrews,  176,  322. 

Olshausen,  Hermann,  116. 
Origen,  35. 

Paine,  Thomas,  52. 
Paley,  William,  6r. 
Palfrey,  Cazneau,  465. 
Palfrey,  John  Gorham,  227. 
Park,  Edwards  A.,  557. 
Parker,  Joseph,  234. 
Parker,  Theodore,  239. 
Pascal,  Blaise,  41. 
Peabody,  Andrew  P.,  336,  571. 
Peabody,  Ephraim,  258. 
Perowne,  E.  H.,  144. 
Picton,  J.  Allanson,  265. 
Pierson,  Arthur  T.,  403. 
Pinnock,  W.  H.,  141. 
Plumptre,  Edward  Hayes,  236. 
Polycarp,  35. 
Porter,  Noah,  166. 
Post,  Truman,  287. 
Porteous,  Beilby,  83. 
Pressense,  Edmond  de,  117,  160. 
Priestley,  Joseph,  52. 
Punshon,  William  Morley,  174. 
Putnam,  George,  339. 

Quarterly  Review,  269. 
Quinet,  Edgar,  103. 


Raleigh,  Alexander,  296. 
Ranke,  Leopold,  76. 
Reid,  John,  147. 
Reinhard,  Francis  V.,  194. 
Renan,  Joseph  Ernest,  155. 
Richter,  Jean  Paul,  369. 
Riggenbach,  Christoph  J.,  113. 
Ritschl,  Albrecht,  102. 
Robertson,  Frederick  W,,  214. 
Rogers,  Ebenezer  P.,  421. 
Rogers,  Henry,  223. 
Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques,  47. 
Roussel,  Napoleon,  251. 
Row,  Charles  Adolphus,  318,  333. 
Ruskin,  John,  455. 

Schaff,  Philip,  344. 

Schenkel,  Daniel,  104. 

Schmid,  C.  F.,  317. 

Scougal,  Henry,  77. 

Sears,  Edmund  Hamilton,  325. 

Seeley,  John  Robert,  198. 

Sen,  Keshub  Chunder,  18S. 

Shakspeare,  William,  48. 

Simon,  D.  W.,  391. 

Simpson,  Matthew,  565. 

Smith,  G.  Vance,  362. 

Smith,  Goldwin,  279,  381. 

Smith,  Henry  B.,  264. 

Smith,  John  Pye,  99. 

Smith,  R.  Bosworth,  274. 

Smyth,  Julian  K.,  593. 

Smyth,  Newman,  452. 

Sperr3%  Willard  G.,  672. 

Spinoza,  Benedict,  42. 

Spurgeon,  Charles  Haddon,  469. 

Stalker,  James,  4S9. 

Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn,  257. 

Steel,  Thomas  Henr\%  649. 

Stier,  Rudolf,  105. 

Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  273. 

Storrs,  Richard  Salter,  361.  543. 

Strauss,  David  Friedrich,  2S6,  368. 

Swing,  David,  432. 

Talcott,  Daniel  Smith,  286. 
Talmage,  T.  De  Witt,  5S7. 
Tauler,  John,  441. 
Tayler,  John  James,  337. 
Taylor,  Isaac,  100. 
Taylor,  Jeremy,  44. 
Tholuck,  Friedrich  A.  G.,  124. 
Thom,  John  Hamilton,  1S6. 
Thompson,  Hugh  Miller,  604. 


688 


INDEX   OF  AUTHORS. 


Thompson,  Joseph  P.,  159. 
Thornwell,  James  11.,  274. 
Tischendorf,  Constantine,  368. 
Tolstoi,  Leo  Nikolaevich,  621. 
Townsend,  Luther  T.,  249. 
Trench,  Richard  Chenevix,  119. 
Tulloch,  John,  245. 
Tyler,  William  S.,  386. 

Ullmaiin,  Karl,  107. 

Van  Oosterzee,  John  Jacob,  118. 
Vaughan,  C.  J.,  674. 
Verplanck,  Gulian  C,  92. 
Vincent,  Marvin  R.,  440. 
Vinet,  Alexander,  125. 
Voltaire,  Frangois  M.  A.,  46. 

Walker,  C.  S.,  658. 


Walker,  James,  235. 
Walker,  James  B.,  137. 
Ware,  Henry,  jun.,  169. 
Washburn,  Edward  A.,  267. 
Watson,  Robert  A.,  507. 
Webster,  Daniel,  185. 
Weiss,  Bernhard,  444. 
Wescott,  Brooke  Foss,  661. 
Wesley,  John,  49. 
Whately,  Richard,  97,  414. 
Williams,  John,  538. 
Williams,  William  R.,  135. 
Winthrop,  Robert  C,  192. 
Wood,  William  Converse,  667. 
Wordsworth,  John,  506. 
Wright,  G.  Frederick,  508. 

Young,  John,  181. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Abba,  Father,  499. 

Abbott,  Edwin  A.  Founder  of  Christian- 
ity, investigate  like  any  other,  influence 
on  his  enemy  Paul,  type  of  sonship  to 
God,  Teacher  and  Reformer,  authority 
to  supersede  Sabbath,  visible  centre  of 
religion,  image  of  invisible  Father,  his 
principle  of  Brotherhood  the  hope  of  the 
race,  how  could  he  have  been  deceived, 
as  Son  of  God,  322-330.  Allowed  no 
distinctions  of  rank,  unlike  Lycurgus,  left 
only  himself  and  not  law.  Brotherhood 
and  Fatherhood,  simplicity,  but  greatest 
social  Reformer,  not  disorganizer  but 
organizer,  against  worship  of  might,  con- 
structiveness  consisted  in  being  what  he 
was,  his  kingdom  of  God  fundamental, 
Christ's  grand  scheme,  424-429,  Preface. 

Abbott,  Jacob.  His  Perfection  blinds  to 
his  excellence,  example,  courage,  rebukes 
Peter's  mistake  and  Judas'  treachery,  his 
mission  conducted  fearlessly,  could  use  a 
scourge,  129-131. 

Abbott,  John  S.  C.  Love  to  God,  love 
to  men  the  only  goodness,  "  no  good  man 
not  moulded  by  the  principles  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth,"  478,  479. 

Abbott,  Lyman.  "  If  only  a  Galilaean 
rabbi,  justly  condemned,"  not  by  side  of 
the  sages,  "either  Son  of  God,  or  false 
prophet,"  125. 

Abraham,  63,  145,  606,  659. 

Achilles,  367,  371. 

"  Adamantine  Fortitude,"  379. 

Adams,  Nehemiah.  "Never  was  such  a 
heart,"  "his  great  love  made  him  Saviour," 
"his  nature  to  love,"  "  Length,  breadth, 
depth,  height,"  will  love  old  as  well  as 
young,  197,  198,  Preface. 

Adrian,  erected  temples  to  Christ,  62,- 

Advocate,  Bossuet,  44. 

.^neid  of  Virgil,  207. 


^schylus,  209,  528,  529,  61  r. 

Africa  and  Christ,  5S2. 

"  Africa  bore  his  cross  after  him,"  582. 

Agamemnon,  371. 

Agassiz,  504. 

Aged,  Jesus  loves,  198. 

Ajax,  145. 

Alexander,  89,  127,  158,  209,  235,  253,  346, 
371,440,  467.496,  565,  611. 

Alexander  Severus,  Emperor,  had  Christ's 
statue,  63. 

Alexander,  James  W.  Person  of  Christ, 
perfect  model.  Founder  of  Christianity, 
unique,  original,  unexplainable  by  any 
thing  previous,  cannot  be  traced  to  age 
or  country,  cannot  parallel  or  reproduce, 
satisfies  moral  nature,  our  Lord,  his  life 
the  world's  great  moral  lesson,  237-239, 
Preface. 

Alexander,  Willlim.  Exceptional  in  the 
spiritual  world,  the  witness  of  his  enemies, 
and  friends,  no  consciousness  of  sin,  first- 
born from  dead,  the  Wisdom  of  God,  "his 
words  created  Christendom  and  civili- 
zation ;  the  creative  beginning  of  new 
creation  of  holiness  and  beneficence," 
614-621. 

Alexander,  Wm.  Lindsay.  "Absolutely 
faultless,"  combination  of  excellences. 
Meekness  and  Majesty,  Firmness  and 
Gentleness,  Zeal  and  Prudence,  Calmness 
and  Warmth,  Patience,  167-169. 

Alexandrian  Library,  456. 

Alfred,  477. 

Allibone,  Preface. 

Allston,  Washington,  327. 

Allon,  Henry.  "The  one  perfect  life," 
"all  human  excellence  blended,"  self-con- 
sciousness peculiar  to  him,  asserts  his 
faultlessness,  and  the  source  of  humanity's 
life,  173. 

"Alps  of  goodness,"  Reid,  14S. 

689 


690 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Andrews,  Samuel  J.  "Christianity  is 
Christ,"  Jesus  "  the  Living  One,"  "  Chris- 
tianity lives  as  long  as  he  lives,"  196, 197. 

Angelico,  P'ra,  527. 

"Anno  Domini,"  314,  406,  414. 

Antony  (Monk),  205. 

Apollo,  405 ;  Apollo  Belvidere,  205,  207, 
324- 

"Arabian  Nights,"  210,  381. 

Archimedes,  42,  530. 

Aristides,  47,  674. 

Aristotle,   127,  158,  323,  354,  375,  405,  565, 

593- 

Armitage,  Thomas.  "Wide  empire  of 
thought,"  "nothing  ill-balanced,"  Love 
and  Light  blend,  158,  159,  Preface. 

Arnold,  Matthew.  "  He  restored  the 
intuition,"  hence  he  saved,  gave  eternal 
life,  repentance  his  method,  peace  his 
secret,  374-376. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  39S,  454,  456,  642. 

Arnold,  Thomas.  "Riches  of  his  wis- 
dom," "  light  growing  more  brilliant," 
"universal  range,"  "light  and  life  of 
every  new  country  our  minds  discover," 
179,  180. 

Arnold,  Thomas,  193. 

Ascension,  39,  76,  83,  85;  compared  with 
Elijah's,  125,  409,  461,  493. 

Asceticism,  not  Christ-like,  61,  70,  loi,  195, 
274,  2S3,  294,  301,  426,  625. 

Astarte,  67S. 

Atonement,  447.     See  Cross,  Sacrifice. 

Aukerlen,  Carl  August.  Resurrection, 
Humanity's  Ideal  Crown  of  our  race. 
Surety  and  guaranty  of  our  perfection,  84. 

Augustine.  Teacher  (a  great  sea),  Christ 
Crucified,  Miracle-Worker,  34, 35,  Preface. 

Augustine,  253,  268;  six  creative  days,  617, 
618. 

Augustus,  Caesar,  272,  361. 

Austin,  William.  Command,  but  Gentle- 
ness, Self-command,  opposite  traits 
blended  naturally,  Meekness  and  Firm- 
ness, Wisdom  and  Simplicity,  no  Stoic 
severity,  did  no  violence  to  human  na- 
ture, 85,  86. 

Author,  Jesus  not,  5S4.      See  Writer. 

Authority,  command,  15,  20,  51,  54,  66,  89, 
1 68,  221,  413. 

"Avatar  of  God,"  255. 

Babel,  salvation  without  Christ,  Spurgcon, 
469. 


Bacon,  Francis.  Sacrifice  for  sin.  Saviour, 
E-tample  and  Pattern,  Preacher,  Founda- 
tion, Intercessor,  Lord,  Miracle-Worker, 
Resurrection,  Redemption,  finished  his 
Father's  work,  40. 

Bacon,  Francis,  135,  294,  302,  321,  405,  565, 
605,  616;  on  envy,  673,  Preface. 

Bacon,  Leonard  Woolsey.  "  Incom- 
parable among  the  human  race,"  his  birth 
the  golden  milestone  of  history,  the  con- 
sensus of  testimony,  Christian,  unchris- 
tian, antichristian,  symmetry  and  harmony, 
unanimous  wonder  at  Christ's  perfect 
manhood,  583-5S6. 

Baptism  into  him,  15. 

Barnabas,  473. 

Barker,  Joseph.  Excited  his  nation, 
keeps  the  world  in  a  ferment,  left  a  soci- 
ety the  wonder  of  the  world,  260,  261. 

Barnes,  Albert.  Perfection  (Cicero), 
Christ  perfect,  eighteen  centuries,  every- 
where, evangelists  describe  perfect  in  all 
circumstances,  four  men  so  describe  him, 
nothing  like  Christ  in  fiction,  difficulties 
of  inventing  character  perfect  for  all  time 
overcome  in  Christ,  placed  him  in  situa- 
tions, his  life  no  fiction,  203-210,  Preface. 

Barrow,  Isaac.  Saviour,  Goodness,  Wis- 
dom, Resurrection,  Reason,  Example,  as 
of  best  painters  and  generals,  Sinless- 
ness.  Light,  Calmness,  Star  to  mariner. 
Pillar  of  Fire,  Sun  of  universe,  Captain- 
General  of  mankind.  Perfect  Example, 
Heavenly  Workmanship,  Image,  open  to 
Imitation,  Condescension,  Simplicity,  no 
Asceticism,  Sun,  Prayers  not  prolonged, 
Zeal  without  violence,  Obedient  and  Or- 
derly, 68-72,  Preface. 

Barrows,  Elijah  P.  No  Asceticism  or 
Stoicism,  made  no  war  with  human  affec- 
tions, lived  among  men,  yet  heavenly- 
minded,  his  virtues  not  monarchical, 
philosophic,  monkish,  but  human,  273, 
274. 

Bartlett,  Samuel  Colcord.  "Supreme 
ascendency,"  Light  of  world.  Renovation 
of  souls.  Elevator  of  woman,  272. 

Bartol,  Cyrus  A.  Free  Religion  will 
not  displace  Christianity,  Goodness  the 
greatest  talent,  the  Chief  Pilot,  the  multi- 
tudes have  the  bread  of  life  from  him  ; 
the  law  of  nourishment  and  subsistence, 
the  Christ-ideal  uplifts,  the  Lowly  and 
Lordly,  477,  478,  Preface. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


691 


Bathgate,  William.  Transcendent  mor- 
al worth,  his  morality  inconsistent  with 
deception  in  miracles,  bent  not  to  preju- 
dices of  the  age,  his  miracles  daily  things, 
and  daily  the  Redeemer,  266,  267, 

Bayne,  Peter.  Scepticism  finds  no  flaw, 
honest  and  pure,  no  character  has  had 
such  scrutiny,  suffrage  of  the  race  pro- 
nounces pure,  a  beam  of  white  radiance, 
as  light  of  God's  throne,  influence  on 
institutions.  Light  of  world.  Example 
inimitable,  29S-300,  Preface.  Infidel  ad- 
miration of  Christ,  Christians  discern 
holiness  and  celestial  beauty,  impressive 
manifestations  of  supernatural  power, 
"one  tear  of  Jesus  over  Jerusalem," 
prayer  for  his  murderers,  Christianity 
gives  a  Divine  Spirit  to  reveal  his  beauty, 

343>  344- 

Bayne,  Peter  (Winthrop),  193. 

Beard,  Charles.  "The  strongest,  most 
enduring,  most  vivid  force,"  "  the  great 
names  pale  before  his,"  "finished  mani- 
festation," "no  fault  in  Jesus,"  God  the 
Father  of  mankind,  495-499. 

Beard,  John  R.  Founder  of  Christianity, 
Divinity,  Saviour,  Miracle  of  Character, 
"Jesus  was,  Jesus  />,"  Humanity's  Head, 
Compassion  for  Sinful,  Obedience,  "sur- 
passes all  men  in  all  virtues,"  111-113. 

Beatitudes,  308,  456  ;  "peaceful,"  523. 

Beauty  (art).     See  Jesus  in  Art. 

Beauty  (moral),  66,  76,  2,t,i,  343,  344,  370, 
371,  377,  420;  "perfect  chrysolite,"  496, 
526;  "unique,  without  limit,"  527,  568, 
669. 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward.  No  portrait,  no 
determination  of  personal  appearance,  a 
personal  power  without  a  form,  united 
in  himself  all  nationalities,  Christianity  is 
faith  in  Christ,  to  live  in  him  the  marrow 
of  his  teaching,  he  was  universal,  383- 
3S6.  Christ's  dignity  was  to  be  a  man 
among  men,  in  all  the  inflection  of  human 
moods,  654,  655. 

"  Be  good,  my  dears."     Scott,  Walter,  49S. 

Bellows,  Henry  Whitney.  "A  mighty 
and  shaping  influence,  a  holy  will,  a 
spiritual  sovereignty,"  the  Gulf-Stream, 
242.  All-sufficient  Saviour,  nearest  to 
God,  Mediator  with  Father,  words  true 
for  all  ages,  "  invented  and  illustrated 
truths  of  highest  thought  and  experience," 
591-593- 


Benedict  (Monk),  206. 

licncfactor,  Massillon,  45. 

Benevolence,  39,  43,  44,  45,  53,  56,  63,  77, 97, 
107,  138,  142,  195,  303,  332,  336,  414,  485. 

Bentham,  Jeremy,  326. 

Bcrditchcf  circus,  Tolstoi,  625. 

Bernard,  Henry  Norris.  "Everything 
good  in  highest  perfection,"  mental  char- 
acteristics, Fletcher  of  Madeley,  Person 
of  Christ  the  power  of  Christianity,  not 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  but  the  living 
Saviour,  611-613. 

Bernard,  Thomas  Dehany.  "Sinless 
humanity,"  "indwelling  Godhead,"  Jesus 
of  the  Gospels  "a  vivid  reality,"  "con- 
spicuous  for  truthfulness  and  life,"  154, 

155- 

Bersier,  Eugene.  No  miracles  by  John 
Baptist  but  (same  narrators)  everywhere 
by  Jesus,  the  narrative  no  myth,  nor  mist}', 
but  clear,  2S4,  285. 

Bible,  "  the  moon  of  our  darkness,"  418. 

BiXBY,  JamesThompson.  "  I  am  the  Life," 
Truth's  rough  diamonds  he  cut,  polished, 
set  in  royal  diadem,  originality,  changed 
fishermen  into  preachers  and  martyrs, 
the  Life  then  the  Life  now,  created 
institutions,  transformed  men  like  Saul, 
Teacher  of  Brotherhood,  influence  for 
freedom  and  progress,  slavery,  gave 
practical  turn  to  religion,  393-396. 

Blackie,  John  Stuart.  The  formative 
Person  of  the  Church,  a  Redeemer,  Foun- 
dation, P'ountain,  Vine,  Saviour,  Resur- 
rection, 250,  251. 

Blaikie,  William  Garden.  Never  shows 
kinship  with  our  sins,  never  falls,  sli|)s 
or  sins,  "did  not  grope  and  guess,  but 
walked  a  seer,"  reserved  truths  unspoken, 
the  leaders  are  in  allegiance  to  him,  473- 
475,  Preface. 

Blyden,  Edward  W.  Jesus  in  connection 
with  the  African  race,  Africa  "  bore  his 
cross  after  him,"  581-5S3. 

Boardman,  George  Dana.  Fresh,  vital 
Teacher,  unlike  Hillel  and  Shammai, 
Teaching  described.  Methods,  no  System, 
no  Rhetoric,  not  Incidentals  but  Essen- 
tials, profound  and  radical,  did  not  give 
details,  e.g ,  how  often  to  pray,  no  mar- 
tinet disposition,  not  what  to  do  but  be, 
taught  with  authority  of  his  character, 
Anno  Domini,  men  cannot  fight  charac- 
ter, 41 1-4 14,  Preface. 


692 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Boehme,  344. 

Bonaparte,  Napoleon.  Genuineness  of 
his  testimony;  Christ  an  astonishment, 
greatness  of  spirit,  nothing  human,  his 
Religion  from  God,  not  a  philosopher, 
Miracle-Worker,  Original,  deals  with  the 
soul,  a  Master,  Gospel  purest  morality, 
compared  with  Caesar  and  Alexander, 
empire  of  love,  sinless  character,  majes- 
tic and  simple,  firm  and  gentle,  Chris- 
tianity embraces  universe,  Brotherhood 
of  man.  Son  of  the  Eternal,  taught  Eter- 
nity, Divinity,  aim  the  world's  meliora- 
tion, creates  love,  "  his  greatest  miracle 
the  reign  of  charity,"  87-90,  Preface. 

BossuET,  Jacques  Benign6.  Redeemer, 
Compassion,  Benevolence,  Son  of  God, 
Pontiff,  Advocate,  Intercessor,  King  in 
love,  43,  44. 

Bossuet,  Jacques  Benigne,  Preface,  52S, 
529. 

BouGAUD,  £mile.  Jesus  like  the  firma- 
ment under  the  telescope's  examination, 
royal  human  beauty,  man  but  more,  uni- 
versal and  inexhaustible,  unfathomable, 
perfect  and  imparts  perfection,  the  ideal 
of  eighteen  centuries,  an  ideal  Christ  not 
found  outside  of  Christ,  the  despair  of 
art,  personality,  a  Jew  but  not  Judaistic, 
universal  yet  positive  and  individual,  no 
national  limit,  526-53 r.  Preface. 

Boyle,  Robert.  Example,  Divinity,  Sin- 
lessness,  recognized  by  the  Father,  his 
life  a  Law,  surpasses  heathen  moralists. 
Teacher  Divine,  persuades,  81,  82. 

Brace,  Charles  Loring.  A  new  moral 
force  in  human  life,  the  renovation  of 
man,  a  religion  absolute  and  universal, 
for  all  ages,  races,  circumstances,  475, 
476,  Preface. 

Brahmans,  255,  530. 

Bread,  Jesus,  17. 

Bronte,  Charlotte,  Preface. 

Brooke,  Stopford.  Loving  Kindness, 
Penetrating  Love,  Knowledge  of  Men, 
Forgiveness  of  Injuries,  his  motive,  "Our 
Father,"  150,  151,  Preface. 

Brooks,  Arthur.  At  the  centre  of  human 
life,  his  words  a  test  of  earnestness,  never- 
failing  spring  of  moral  power,  High  Priest, 
574-579-  Piefacc. 

Brooks,  Phillips.  Work  of  Incarnation 
reveals  men  as  (iod's  chiUIien  to  make 
sons  of  God,  315;  Crown  of  Manhood, 


he  is  manly,  completest  human  character, 
yet  men  admire  incompleteness,  431,  Pref- 
ace. 

Brother,  27,  28,  78,  279,  405,  463,  519,  548. 

Brotherhood  of  Man,  90,  139,  141,  261,  293, 

295.  395'  425.  447- 

Brothers  and  sisters,  20,  etc. 

Browne,  Edward  Harold.  "  Sublime 
simplicity,  went  about  doing  good,  cour- 
age, "  the  ideal  of  humble-hearted,  active- 
spirited,  pure-minded,  high-souled  hu- 
manity," influence  on  character,  dearer 
than  all  friends,  300-302,  Preface. 

Browning,  Robert,  Preface,  671. 

Bruce,  Alexander  Balman.  "Essential 
goodness,"  "undue  passionateness "  ex- 
amined, zeal,  abhorrence  of  hypocrisy,  the 
pure  shows  God,  his  doctrine  of  God  and 
man,  stands  zvilhin  the  kingdom  of  God, 
480-4S4,  Preface. 

Buckminster,  Joseph  Stevens.  Character 
proves  divine,  Sun  in  cloudless  sky.  Dele- 
gate of  the  Father,  Sublimity,  Fearlessness, 
Meekness,  Prophet,  Messiah  unexpected, 
Miracle-Worker,  Son  of  God,  Benevo- 
lence, Humility,  96,  97,  Preface. 

Buddha,  Gautama,  Sakya  Mouni,  125,  127, 
160,  245,  246,  255,  256,  269,  286,  292,  316, 
354.  3S5.  400,  45' ;  "Light  of  Asia,"  482, 
4S5 ;  " reveals  a  vacant  heaven,  Jesus, 
a  Father  in  Heaven,"  486,  496;  Sutras, 
540,  601,  642,  Preface,  6S0,  68 1. 

Budgett,  .Samuel,  193. 

BuLKiNCH,  Stephen  Greenleaf.  Jesus 
praised  the  unpopular  virtues,  meekness 
and  the  like,  his  claim  to  be  loved,  his 
character  a  combination,  manly  and  wom- 
anly, 655-658. 

BuNSEN,  Christian  Karl  Josias.  One- 
ness with  God  in  holiness,  God  and  Man, 
history  since  Jesus  presupposes  him  as 
"  the  cause  of  the  revolution  of  man's  view 
of  the  universe,"  Teacher,  his  Divine 
Consciousness,  153,  154. 

Bunsen,  Christian  Karl  Josias,  preface,  337. 

Burgh,  James.  Founder  of  Christianity, 
character,  not  an  invention.  Saviour, 
greatness  larger,  different  from  other 
greatness,  79,  Preface. 

lUirkc,  l-'.dmund,  159. 

liURNAP,  George  W.  "His  birth  the 
ejioch  of  the  ages,"  Spotless,  his  Life  a 
Miracle,  Teacher,  compared  with  hea- 
then philosophers,  his  Impression,  Forti- 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


693 


tude,  Patience,  "  a  class  by  himself," 
Holy  by  volition,  i2i-[24.  Preface. 

BusHNELL,  Horace.  Poor  Man's  Philos- 
opher, Jesus  is  the  Truth,  Teacher, 
"  never  anxious  for  success,"  "  a  lamb  in 
innocence,  a  God  in  dignity,"  Original, 
Wise,  the  one  perfect  character,  has 
changed  the  world,  cannot  be  got  out  of 
the  world,  219-223,  Preface. 

Butler,  Joseph.  Son  of  God  loved  us  in 
love  surpassing  friendship,  431. 

Butler,  Joseph,  268,  474,  61S,  Preface. 

Cadmus,  477. 

Csesar,  Augustus,  4S7,  602,  610. 

Cassar,  Julius,  89,  127,  159,  209,  235,  253, 
270.346,  37 1  >  440,  590.612. 

Caesar,  Tiberius,  63,  367. 

Caiaphas,  231,  679. 

Cain,  envy,  673. 

Cairo,  John.  "God  mirrored  in  Christ's 
moral  being,"  never  before  witnessed, 
"  we  behold  as  in  a  glass  the  glory  of  the 
Lord,"  works  of  goodness,  nothing  in 
common  with  the  spirit  of  his  times,  56S- 

571- 
Caird,  John  of  Errol   (Wmthrop),  Preface, 

193- 

Cairns,  John.  Person  of  Christ  the  key 
of  the  conflict  of  faith,  that  grand  central 
figure  a  fact  not  delusion,  to  have  a 
centre  a  presumption  of  truth,  the  life  a 
historic  reality,  compared  with  Moham- 
med, etc.,  the  Gospels  and  their-  agree- 
ment, religion  of  the  future,  448-452, 
Preface. 

Calendar  changed  through  Christ,  314,  406, 
414. 

Calmness,  144,  167,  249,  295,  300,  363,  3S0, 
409,  652. 

Calvin,  379. 

Campbell,  Alexander.  A  Person,  with 
positive  attributes,  radiating  as  sun  in 
heaven,  his  character  more  than  his  mira- 
cles, wisdom  and  science  pale  before  him 
as  meridian  sun,  originality,  unity  of 
character,  grandeur,  98,  99. 

"  Candle   of    the    Lord,"   Brooks,    Preface, 

431- 
Candlish,  Robert  S.  No  violence  of 
power,  no  artfulness  of  wisdom,  calmness, 
simplicity,  repose,  almost  unconscious- 
ness, grandeur  of  his  character,  Wisdom 
of  God,  3S0. 


Carlyle,  Thomas.  A  present  God,  our 
divinest  symbol,  peasant  saint,  the  splen- 
dor of  heaven,  light  shining  in  great  dark- 
ness, 169,  612. 

Caste,  636. 

"  Catholic  Presbyterian,"  Bersier,  284. 

Cato,  428. 

"Cellarius"  (Thomas  W.  Fowlc),  531. 

Celsus,  63,  209. 

"Centre  and  Reason,"  Pascal,  41. 

Chadwick,  George  A.  Inspiration  needful 
to  strike  out  new  path.  King,  Proph- 
et, Priest,  "completely  and  supremely 
unique,"  imitating  none,  satisfying  all,  the 
race  traditions  to  him  Galahad  piers  to 
the  crown,  no  unreal  personage  could 
wield  his  power,  leads  wakeful  quest  of 
the  world,  his  party  the  holy  church, 
eagle  with  sun-sustaining  eyes,  no  earthly 
taper  but  pure  light  of  heaven,  365-367, 
Preface. 

Chaffin,  William  L.  Jesus  a  master 
mind  in  morals  and  religion,  a  genius. 
Sermon  on  Mount,  Sabbath,  Lord's  Prayer, 
Golden  Rule,  no  one  left  so  much  truth, 
gold  without  dross,  saw  universal  in  par- 
ticular, clear  and  precise  in  thought,  who 
is  superior  or  rival.'  far  in  advance,  lead- 
ing us  yet,  523-526,  Preface. 

Chalmers,  Thomas.  Saviour,  Miracle- 
Worker,  lavish  to  relieve  sickness  but  not 
hunger,  would  not  encourage  indolence, 
Teacher,  promoter  of  self-denial,  lesson 
in  economics,  94-96. 

Channing,  William  Ellery.  "Singular 
excellence,"  perception  blunted  by  famil- 
iarity, changed  moral  aspect  of  the  world, 
power  in  heaven,  his  words  beyond  all 
others,  Miracles,  Majesty,  Gentleness, 
Brother,  no  invention.  Son  of  God,  Sav- 
iour, "still  lives,"  character  original, 
could  not  have  been  a  fiction.  Benevo- 
lence, diffused  the  spirit  of  humanity, 
Divine,  210-214.  His  chosen  sphere 
revealed  mind  and  character,  a  mind  of  a 
nexu  order,  association  with  lowly  and 
enemies  brings  out  his  goodness,  403, 
404.  Mind  and  character  infinitely  impor- 
tant, the  greatest  good,  the  affection  he 
inspires,  Jesus  the  Life  of  his  religion, 
"an  incarnation  of  the  unbounded  love 
of  the  Father,"  I  know  heaven  in  his  spirit 
of  heaven,  405,  foil.  "Christ's  goodness 
throws  all  oiher  human  attainments  into 


694 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


obscurity,"  536;  ("than  whom  none  has 
written  more  beautifully  and  forcibly  on 
Christ's  character  ")  "  the  grandeur  of  his 
office  and  character  the  deepest,  most 
familiar,  of  his  convictions,"  634,  Preface, 
271,370. 

CHAriN,  Edwin  Hubuell.  Christ  has  en- 
larged Life  of  humanity,  made  the  eter- 
nal world  real,  imparted  what  humanity 
wanted,  244,  245,  Preface. 

Character,  Sketch  or  analysis,  Preface, 
"Character  of  Christ  an  impregnable 
citadel,"  56  foil.,  58,  71,  77,  80,  83,  85,  89, 
96.  "  Proves  divinity,"  Buckminster,  97. 
Unity,  Originality,  99.  "  Perfection  of 
contrasts,"  100,  loi,  112,113,  122,  124,  130. 
"  Superhuman,"  139, 147, 148, 157, 163, 16S, 
170,  175,  181,  208,  210,214,326.  "Like 
great  mountains  and  starry  heavens," 
Hopkins,  330.  "Crystalline  character," 
362,  3S0,  403,  404,  409,  410,  413.  "  Unim- 
peached,"  416,  429,  480,  531. 

"Character  of  Christ,"  Fowle,  352. 

"  Character  of  Jesus,"   Schenkel,  104. 

Charities  of  the  world,  680. 

Charlemagne,  159,  612. 

Charles  Fifth,  612. 

Chateaubriand,  Francois  Auguste. 
New  System  of  Morals,  Divinity,  King 
over  Men,  Sinlessness,  Miracle- Worker 
(Celsus,  Julian,  Volusian),  Pious,  Re- 
deemer, Image  of  God,  Benevolent,  Sav- 
iour, E.xample,  63,  64. 

Children  and  Childhood,  "Suffer  to  come," 
21.  Webster,  186,  225,  304,  34S.  "Colored 
girl  singing,"  363,  386,  405,  416,  531.  Love 
for,  not  a  quality  of  great  men,  61 2.  Jairus's 
daughter,  649. 

Christ  in  Art,  Madonna,  Faith,  Hope, 
Charity,  567.  Handel's  "Messiah,"  596, 
ideal  without  nationality,  609.  See  Jdsiis 
in  Art. 

"Christ  a  Friend,"  Adams,  197. 

"Christ  and  Christendom,"  Plumptre,  236. 

"Christ  and  Christianity,"  W.  L.  Alexander, 
167. 

"Christ  and  his  Religion,"  Rcid,  147. 

"Christ  and  Humanity,"  Goodwin,  164. 

"Christ  and  Man,"  Bathgate,  266. 

"Christ  and  other  Masters,"  Hardwick,  2155. 

"Christ  bearing  Testimony  to  himself," 
Chad  wick,  365. 

"Christ  in  the  Christian  Year,"  Huntington, 
3'9- 


"Christ:  Nature  and  Work,"  Armitage, 
1 58. 

"  Christ:  Nature  and  Work,"  Foss,  351, 

"Christ;  Nature  and  Work,"  Rogers,  421. 

"Christ:  Nature  and  Work,"  Washburn, 
267. 

"Christ  of  History,"  Young,  iSi. 

"  Christ  of  Renan,"  etc.,  Roussel,  251. 

"Christ  of  the  Gospels,"  Tulloch,  245. 

"Christ  our  King,"  Pinnock,  141. 

Christ  proves  Christianity,  262.  His  words 
a  chrysolite,  495-499. 

"  Christ  the  central  evidence  of  Christian- 
ity," Cairns,  448. 

"Christ  the  Desire,"  etc.,  Trench,  119. 

"  Christ  the  Life,"  393. 

Christian,  Christianity,  "Christian  fiction 
aims  at  moral  ideal,"  3S1.  The  "vision 
of  a  beautiful  life,"  401.  Cosmogony  in 
John,  537.  Christianity  came  from  kis 
religion,  555. 

"Christian,  The,"  Naville,  T28. 

"Christian  Dogmatics,"  Oosterzee,  118. 

"Christian  Ethics,"  Dorner,  550. 

"  Christian  Ethics,"  Martensen,  559. 

"Christian  Evidences,"  P"isher,  664. 

"Christian  Evidences,"  Whately,  414. 

"  Christian  Evidences  and  Modern  Thought," 
Row,  353. 

"Christian  Life,  The,"  Bayne,  343. 

"Christian  Perfection,"  Law,  W.,  72. 

"  Christian  Register,"  465. 

"Christianity  and  Humanity,"  King,  247. 

"Christianity  and  Mankind,"  Bunsen,  153. 

"Christianity  and  Modern  Thought," 
Hedge.  429. 

"  Christianity  and  Positivism,"  McCosh,  226. 

"  Christianity  and  Scepticism,"  Post,  287. 

"  Christianity  and  Science,"  Peabody,  A.  P., 

336- 

"  Christianity,  Islam,  and  Negro  Race," 
Blyden,  581. 

"Christianity's  Challenge,"  Johnson,  152. 

Christlieu,  Theodor,  Person  of  Christ, 
Moral  Grandeur,  ideal  of  perfection.  Son 
of  God  and  Son  of  man.  Redeemer,  union 
to  him  salvation,  256. 

Christmas,  universally  kept,  Everett,  191. 
Winthrop,  192,  193. 

"Christus  Consolator,"  668. 

Chrysolite,  beauty,  496.     His  words,  497. 

CmiBii,  Thomas.  E.\ample,  Humility, 
Modesty,  Benevolent,  Smlessness,  Mir- 
acle-Worker, 45. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


695 


Church,  Relation  to  Church,  26.  Paul,  26, 
36,  37,  126,  141,  197,  Communion  of  be- 
lievers, 318,  339,  Protector,  339,  "His 
holy  party,"  367,  368,  "  The  society  of  the 
inner  life,"  3S2,  396,  "  A  spiritual  Sparta," 
42,  "  Has  saved  mankind  from  ruin,"  427, 
eccUsia,  convention,  432,  "  In  centre  of 
history,"  450,  458,  "Church  first,  then  a 
Book,"  467,  Those  who  continue  Gesta 
Ckristi,  469,  476,  Witness  to  Christ's 
promises,  506,  519,  540,  Its  conquests, 
540,  541,  Weathered  storms,  590,  591,  and 
world,  619,  "Church  of  deed  of  truth 
and  love,"  Tolsto:,  630. 

Cicero,  159,  on  perfection,  203,  467,  659. 

"City  of  God,"  Fairbairn,  484. 

Clarke,  James  Freeman.  Historic  Christ 
not  outgrown,  will  be  centre  of  the  new 
theology,  his  life  lifts  to  higher  plane, 
brought  God  to  man,  lifted  man  to  God, 
393.  Highest  because  deepest.  Creator 
of  better  faith,  combined  opposite  virtues, 
shortest  of  prayers,  made  time  and  eter- 
nity one,  Saint,  Master,  Sage,  Reformer, 
Philanthropist,  yet  we  never  call  him 
these,  perfection  of  fulness,  "Leader  of 
that  part  of  the  race  which  leads  the 
rest,"  470-473,  Preface. 

Clement  of  Alexandria.  Teacher,  Benig- 
nity, Lord,  Salvation,  Truth,  -^,2,,  34- 

Clement  of  Rome.  Saviour,  High  Priest, 
Light,  Eternal  Knowledge,  33. 

Clodd,  Edward.  Diffused  sweet  charity 
and  self-lessness,  as  brotherhood,  love  to 
God  flows  in  love  to  man,  he  drew  the 
quenchless  affection  of  sinful  and  suf- 
fering, "  an  influence  which  has  filled 
centuries  from  East  to  West,"  494,  495. 

Clovis  wished  his  soldiers  had  been  at 
Calvary,  262. 

Cor.BK,  Frances  Power  ("Broken 
Lights").  "Noblest  countenance  smiled 
on  Palestine,"  "full  of  grace  and  truth," 
"the  greatest  soul  of  his  time,  of  all 
time,"  would  take  a  Jesus  to  forge  a 
Jesus,  superior  moral  reformer  but  more, 
his  ethics  not  so  important  as  his  reqen- 
eration,  leaven  working  in  souls,  turning- 
point  "  between  old  world  and  new," 
"opened  the  endless  progress,"  "the 
world  has  changed,"  the  man  to  receive 
God's  inspiration,  356-361,  Preface. 

CoLENSO,  John  William,  Lord  and 
example,  because  of  his  spirit,  surrender 


of  his  will  to  God,  "the  way  Christ  would 
act,"  59S. 

Coleridge,  Samuel  Taylor  ("Aids  to 
Reflection  ").  Christianity  not  a  specula- 
tion but  a  life,  proved  by  history  and 
individuals ;  Holy,  Teacher,  E.\ample, 
new  command  of  Love,  "a  charity  wide 
as  sunshine,"  105-107.    On  "  Belief,"  670. 

Collier,  Robert  Laird.  Highest  idea  of 
man,  highest  idea  of  God,  himself  the 
Revelation,  "  perfect  man,"  Light  of  the 
world  "has  girdled  the  earth,"  246,  247. 

Columbus,  244,  404,  477. 

Combination  of  qualities  "surpasses  all 
men  in  all  virtues,"  113, 167,  336.  Oriental 
and  Occidental,  601.  'itt  Harmony,  Vir- 
tues, etc. 

"  Comforter,"  Kempis,  41. 

Command,  336,  533.     See  Authority,  etc. 

Comparison  or  contrast  of  Jesus  with 
others,  "comparisons  with  religious 
founders  are  contrasts,"  485.  "  His  great- 
ness of  a  different  nature,"  559.  See 
Buddha,  Confucius,  Mohammed,  Fletcher 
of  Madeley,  Alexander,  Ccrsar,  A^apoleon, 
Lycurgus,  etc. 

Compassion,  20,  38,  43,  44,  67,  S3,  84,  109, 
112,  114,  144,  243,  307,  378,  419,  676. 

Comte,  Auguste,  641,  645. 

Conder,  Eustace  R.  ("  Basis  of  Faith  "). 
One  form  holds  our  gaze,  compared  with 
sages,  valid  knowledge  of  God,  his  age 
does  not  account  for  him,  perfect  ideal, 
symmetry  conceals  colossal  proportions, 
no  exaggeration,  no  deficiency,  sympathy, 
accessibleness,  the  Good  Shepherd,  316, 
Preface,  317. 

Condescension,  67,  70,  1S7,  336 

"  Confessions,"  Augustine,  34. 

"  Conversations  with  Eckermann,"  Goethe, 
285. 

Confucius,  52,  125,  127,  26S,  286,  292,  316, 
354,  400,  45'.  513.  5-40,  601,  645. 

Consciousness,  "filial,"  501,  511,  517,  518, 
534.  "God  consciousness,"  554.  See 
Self-  Coiiscictisness. 

"Conservation  of   Spiritual    Force,"    Lee, 

579- 

Conversion,  "  George  Eliot,"  461.  Of  the 
world,  S3. 

Cook,  F.  C.  Personality,  Divine  Teacher, 
Words  and  Life  his  great  evidence, 
"  unapproachable  excellence,"  subordi- 
nation of  love,  389,  390. 


696 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Cook,  Joseph  ("Boston  Monday  Lec- 
tures). "  Human  nature  can  be  under- 
stood only  studied  in  connection  with  its 
one  perfect  example,"  never  committed 
sin,  man  at  his  climax,  no  possible  peace 
except  in  imitation  of  Christ,  Back  to 
Christ,  the  Christ-like  the  natural,  5S6, 
587. 

CoQUEREL,  Athanase.  Moral  revolution, 
"all  things  new,"  peace,  forgiveness  of 
injuries,  charity,  of  which  antiquity  was 
ignorant.  Saviour,  "eighteen  centuries  of 
events,"  "  Christianity  the  history  of  the 
eighteen  centuries,"  originality,  ideal  of 
virtue,  in  what  could  he  have  done  better  ? 
his  virtues  possible,  perfect,  but  open  to 
imitation,  261-264.  '"Jesus  the  ideal  of 
virtue,  cannot  add  the  least  trait,"  548, 
549,  Preface. 

Corneille,  528. 

Cornelius,  Bossuet,  43. 

"Corner-Stone,"  Abbott,  Jacob,  129. 

Courage,  58,  129,  174,  191,  281,  300,  320,  533, 
5S6,  656,  667. 

"Creed  of  Christendom,"  Greg,  175. 

Cromwell,  467. 

Crosby,  Howard.  Conversation  practical, 
no  false  enthusiasm,  no  Delphic  air,  Mo- 
hammed and  Jesus,  Jesus  of  the  Gospels 
the  embodiment  of  truth,  438,  439. 

Cross,  38,  135,  191,  200,  243,  260,  272,  274, 
296,  342,  355,  356,  360.  "  Cross  his  coro- 
nation day,"  365,  382,  391 ;  the  Crusades, 
392,  400,  421,  447,  507. 

"Crown  of  manhood,"  Brooks,  431. 

"  Crowned  with  glory,"  Hebrews,  28.  - 

Crucified,  38.     See  Cross,  Sacrifice. 

Crusades,  172,  392. 

Cunningham,  John.  Manifested  God, 
"God  a  Spirit,"  revolutionized  world's  re- 
ligions, no  local  God,  but  Father  of  man- 
kind, corrected  Jew  and  Gentile  ideal,  265. 

Cuvier,  244,  6or. 

Cyprian.  Humility,  Example,  patience 
even  with  Judas  and  Jews,  Head  of  Church, 
Lord,  36,  37. 

Dale,  R.  W.  "  The  Atonement,"  his  great 
sacrifice  for  the  world,  the  Crusades  "  proof 
of  the  power  of  Christ's  death,"  171-173, 
Preface. 

"Daniel  Deronda,"  461. 

•Dante,  349,  371,  430,  4S3,  528,  529. 

David,  365,  432,  433,  606,  609,  618,  659. 


Da  Vinci,  Portrait  of  Christ,  384. 

Davy,  Humphry,  601. 

"  Dawnings  for  Germany,"  Richter,  369. 

"  Deans,  Jeanie,"  654. 

Death,  voluntary,  Voltaire,  46.  Rousseau, 
48.  Oosterzee,  118, 391.  "btt  Resurrection, 
etc. 

"Defence  of  Christian  Faith,"  Godet,  518. 

"  Defence  of  Eclipse  of  Faith,"  223. 

Delitzsch,  Franz.  Founder  of  new  re- 
ligion, of  "Humanism  undreamt  before," 
Brotherhood,  Divine  Love,  breaks  down 
Jewish  barriers.  Benevolence,  forgiveness 
of  injuries,  "the  world's  progress  the  ra- 
diation from  his  light,"  142,  143. 

Demosthenes,  159,  383,  521,  611. 

Descartes,  452. 

De  Wette,  Wilhelm  M.  L.  "The  most 
excellent  character  and  purest  soul  history 
presents,"  "walked  over  the  earth  like 
some  noble  being,  scarce  touching  with 
his  feet,"  342. 

Devvey,  Orville.  Character  receives 
moral  suffrages  of  mankind.  Cross  and 
Death  the  great  revelation,  "a  renovating 
power  has  gone  forth,"  Compassion,  Gen- 
tleness, Philanthropy,  243,  244. 

Dickens,  Charles.  Lord,  Saviour,  Teach- 
er, of  New  Testament,  commends  to  his 
children,  2S9. 

Dignity,  336,  377.  See  Son  of  God,  Majesty, 
etc. 

"Dignity  of  Human  Nature,"  Burgh,  79. 

DiMAN,  J.  Lewis.  "  Man's  normal  nature 
seen  in  him,"  Son  of  man.  Saviour  of  the 
world.  Spotless  Excellence,  "the  Man," 
"he  rules  more  and  more,"  146,  147. 

"Disabilities  of  Jews,"  Macaulay,  180. 

"  Discourse  on  Religion,"  T.  Parker,  239. 

"  Discourses,"  Tayler,  337.     Park,  557. 

"  Divine  Footsteps,"  Griffiths,  372. 

"Divine    Origin    of    Christianit},"    Storrs, 

543- 

"Divine  Revelation,"  Auberlen,  84. 

Divinity,  38,  45,  46,  49,  (>i,  64,  66,  78,  8r,  88, 
90,97,  104,  III,  115,  iiS,  196,  268,  402. 

"Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,"  Bougaud,  526. 

"Doctrine  of  Religion,"  Fichte,  62. 

Door,  Jesus,  17.     Ignatius,  37. 

DoRNER,  Isaac  August.  Perfect  unveil- 
ing the  law  by  his  pattern,  by  his  fulfil- 
ment, perfect,  holy  love,  Christ  is  what 
he  teaches.  Son  of  man,  of  universal  sig- 
nificance, 550,  551. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


697 


Drummond,  James.  "Outburst  of  reli- 
gious light,"  Person  of  Christ  and  faith, 
Son  of  God,  Divine,  "  his  words  a  Divine 
Voice,"  a  "  superhuman  Presence,"  ap- 
peal to  conscience,  the  "  Eternal  Word," 
the  Revealer  of  God,  131-135,  Preface. 

Duncan  (Macbeth),  367. 

Durer,  Albrecht,  349. 

"  Ecce  Deus,"  Joseph  Parker,  234. 

"  Ecce  Homo,"  Pilate,  565. 

"Ecce  Homo,"  Seeley,  198.  "Review  of 
Ecce  Homo,"  Gladden,  217. 

"Ecce  Spiritus,"  Hayvvard,  511. 

Eclectic  Review.  Christ  the  miracle  of 
Christianity,  not  accounted  for  humanly, 
sceptics  cannot  let  him  alone,  "  infinite 
thought,  infinite  refreshment,"  "not  a 
past  tense,"  276-278. 

Economics,  "a  lesson  from  Christ,"  Chal- 
mers, 96.     Whately,  97. 

Eddy's  "  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,"  Storrs,  361. 

Edersheim,  Alfred.  "Christ  a  consoler 
in  the  world's  manifold  woe,"  479,  480. 

Edessa  Portrait,  377. 

Edkins.  "Christianity  covered  Europe 
with  churches  and  charitable  institu- 
tions," 68 1. 

Edwards,  Jonathan.  Infinite  Greatness 
and  Goodness,  Divinity  and  Humanity, 
Holiness,   Brother,  Humility,  Meekness, 

•    78. 

Elijah,  14,  473,  612,  621,  678. 

"  Eliot,  George  "  (Mrs.  Lewes),  461,  Preface. 

Elisha,  678. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  605. 

Eloquence,  159.  "The  world  listens," 
"  almost  the  only  example  of  natural 
eloquence,"  250,  293,  301,  346,  412. 
Orator,  668. 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo.  "  His  name 
ploughed  into  the  world's  history,"  In- 
sight, only  Estimator  of  humanity,  re- 
spected Moses  but  superseded,  149,  668. 

Encyclopaedia  Britannica.  Transcend- 
ent power  of  Personality,  perfect  Ideal, 
his  teaching  unique,  had  sovereign  author- 
ity, breadth  and  power,  flowed  forth  on 
occasion,  no  sentence  not  impressed  and 
treasured  in  memory,  complements  as 
well  as  surpasses  all  truth,  made  holiness 
a  common  possession,  gave  meaning  to 
"Charity"  and  "  Humility,"  446-448. 

Entry  into  Jerusalem,  612. 


Envy,  victim  of,  Voltaire,  46.  Killed  Christ, 
673'  674- 

Epistles:  Clement  of  Rome,  33;  Augustine, 
34;  Polycarp,  35;  Ignatius,  37;  Jeffer- 
son, 50;  Franklin,  60;  Erskine,  84. 

Equipoise,  409.     See  Calmness. 

Erskine,  Thomas.  Revealer  of  the  Father, 
saved  the  lost.  Sympathy,  Miracles  acts 
of  compassion  more  than  of  power,  84. 

Essays,  Macaulay,  180. 

"Essence  and  Evidence  of  Christianity," 
Burnap,  121. 

"  Essence  of  Christianity,"  Collier,  246. 

Essenes,  loi,  2S3,  244. 

Esther,  679. 

Ethbaal,  678. 

Evangelists,  on  Jesus,  56.  Could  not  invent 
Jesus,  61,  1S3,  204,  655.  Life,  not  fiction, 
79,  8r.  Artless,  composed,  historians  not 
partisans,  92.  A  lesson  in  biographic 
composition,  100.  Could  not  create  Jesus, 
114.  Candor  and  honesty,  145.  Simpli- 
city and  truth,  187.  Difficulty  of  contriv- 
ing character  of  Jesus,  205.  The  Gospels 
not  mythical,  217.  Candid,  no  invention, 
no  motive  for  imposture,  opposed  to  Jew- 
ish thought,  incapable  of  Christ's  philan- 
thropy, must  have  had  living  prototype, 
227,  253.  Did  not  eulogize  but  describe 
Christ,  270.  Portrait,  317,  330.  If  not 
narrators,  highest  geniuses,  328.  Do  not 
praise  or  blame,  no  surprise  at  miracles, 
no  denunciation,  effect  beyond  creations 
of  genius,  355.  Their  agreement  of  great 
consequence,  369.  Our  failure  in  descrip- 
tion a  foil,  373.  Do  not  know  the  beauty 
of  their  description,  398.  Unstudied,  no 
panegyric,  414.  Only  Christ  could  invent 
Christ,  429,  665.  Give  Person,  but  do  not 
praise,  633,  665.  Could  not  devise  sinless 
person,  665,  Preface.     See  Gospels. 

Evans,  Mark.  "  One  better  than  the  best 
conceivable,"  the  objective  Revelation  of 
the  Father,  only  One  offered  himself  as 
bread  from  heaven,  his  voice  sounds 
clearer,  other  voices  grow  fainter,  the 
complete  Divine  Revelation,  the  Zz/e'^TYr- 
lastin^.  the  uncreate  Ideal,  the  inexhaust- 
ible Fountain,  640-647. 

Everett,  Edward.  Universality  of  Christ- 
mas celebration.  Love  the  central  duty  of 
our  religion,  Polytheism  cared  not  for  the 
poor.  Vestals  but  not  Sisters  of  Charity, 
191,  192,  159,  Preface. 


698 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


"Evidences  of  Christianity:"  Alexander, 
J.  W.,  237  ;  Bulfinch,  655  ;  Campbell,  98  ; 
Hopkins,  326;  Palfrey,  227. 

"  Evidences  of  Christianity  in  the  Nineteenth 
Century,"  Barnes,  203. 

"Evidences  of  Revealed  Religion,"  Ver- 
planck,  92. 

"Evidences  of  Religion,"  Locke,  402. 

Evolution  and  Creation,  617-619. 

EwALD,  Georg  Heinrich  August.  Divine 
cheerfulness  of  Love,  "most  glorious 
picture  of  the  Eternal,"  only  true  Messiah, 
Eternal  King  of  God's  kingdom,  .Son  of 
God,  Word  of  God,  Perfect  Humanity, 
Socrates  did  not  even  discern,  compared 
with  Stoics,  Buddha,  Confucius,  the  One, 
the  consummation  of  Israel,  126-128. 

Example,  Pattern,  Model,  35,  36,  39,  40,  44, 
45.  Imitable,  64,  68,  70,  72,  77,  81,  82, 
105,  129,  140,  143,  151,  200,  202,  225,  259, 
269,  283,  287.  Exemplar,  299,  324,  329 ; 
and  model  of  every  virtue,  347,  36S ;  and 
Pattern,  3S9,  522,  532.  Li  all  conceivable 
circumstances,  558,  559,  59S,  638. 

"Existence  of  God,"  Kant,  51. 

F.vBER,  Frederick  William  ("Bethle- 
hem ").  Eternal,  Grandeur,  the  knowledge 
of  him  a  science,  and  joy.  Incarnation  at 
bottom  of  all  science.  Immortality,  115, 
1 16.  "  The  Incarnation  the  world  in  which 
we  live,"  362,  Preface. 

Fairbair.n,  a.  M.  Problems  of  history 
centre  in  Christ,  not  individual  but  gen- 
eral, most  powerful  spiritual  force  in  the 
world,  created  the  typical  virtues  and 
moral  ambitions,  living  ideal,  a  world's 
imperishable  wonder,  his  person  the 
source  and  basis  of  Christianity,  "  he  made 
it,  he  is  it,"  439,  440,  Preface.  Words 
mighty  in  energy,  soft  in  strength,  "no 
rival  to  the  words  of  Jesus,"  his  Person 
and  truth  woven  together,  his  religion 
boundless  hope.  Buddhism  and  Christian- 
ity, Christ  of  history,  Christ  in  history, 
weak,  strong,  poor,  rich,  "  riches  of  Christ 
unsearchable,"  484-489. 

"  Faith  and  Character,"  Vincent,  440. 

"  Faith  and  Freedom,"  Brooke,  i  50. 

"Faith  and  Philosophy,"  Smith,  H.  B., 
264. 

Faithfulness,  Grotius,  39. 

"  Faith  of  the  Gospel,"  Mason,  603. 

Fakirs  of  the  East,  Paley,  61. 


Faraday,  337. 

Farrar,  Frederick  W.  Gospels  cannot 
be  touched  without  marring.  Apocryphal 
Gospels  dishonor,  revealed  the  Eternal 
as  the  Unseen  not  the  Future,  God  the 
Father,  Teacher,  compared  with  sages, 
Christianity  does  not  wither  but  revive  the 
nations.  Eternal,  glorious  kingdom.  Elo- 
quent, expelled  cruelty,  righted  wrongs, 
created  homes,  290-294,  Preface. 

Father,  relation  to  Father,  14,  15.  Does 
will  of,  14.  Baptism,  15.  Works  like  him, 
i5.  Witness,  17.  Honored  as  Father, 
sent  by  Him,  17.  Revealer,  19.  In  Fa- 
ther's name,  19.  Voice  (Mark),  20.  Only- 
begotten,  in  beginning  with  Him  (John), 
22.  God  and  Father  of  Christ  (Paul), 
25.  Father  loveth  the  Son,  29.  "Power 
of  the  ineffable  Father"  (Ignatius),  37. 
Power  of,  Justin,  37.  Fulfiller  of  Father's 
work  (Bacon),  40.  Sent  as  Teacher,  56. 
Honors  Father,  67.  Father  recognizes, 
81  ;  approves,  81,  83.  Father  revealed  by 
Christ,  84.  Delegate,  97.  Revelation,  98. 
Father's  "doctrine,"  in.  Image,  118. 
We  see  the  Father,  134,  139.  "Organ  of 
Divine  will,"  320,  447.  "Abba,"  499,  519, 
5-0,  551.  604,  634,  642,  645.  See  Image, 
Son  of  God,  etc. 

"  Feminine,  but  not  effeminate,"  419. 

Fenelon,  268,  337. 

FicHTE,  Johan.n  Gottlieb.  Perception  of 
God  and  man,  no  speculation  or  intel- 
lectual questioning,  Self-Consciousness, 
"the  absolute  Reason  clothed  in  self- 
consciousness,"  62,  63. 

Fichte,  bids  us  watch  him,  because  in  what 
he  "does,  lives,  and  loves,"  God  is  re- 
vealed to  us,  344,  Preface. 

Firmness,  167,  191,  336. 

Fisher,  George  Park  ("Beginnings  of 
Christianity)."  King,  "regal  office,"  his 
Sermon  on  Mount,  "  moral  guidance  of 
mankind,"  "the  grandest  revolution," 
143.  "Unequalled  excellence  of  charac- 
ter," positive,  strongly  marked  features, 
combination,  originality,  the  invention  of 
Jesus  impossible,  not  formally  delineated, 
no  self-reproach,  664-666. 

Fletcher  of  Madeley,  comparison  with 
Christ,  by  Newman,  6n,  612. 

Flowers,  lilies,  538,  668. 

"  Footprints  of  the  Saviour,"  Smyth,  J.  K., 
593- 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


699 


Forgiveness,  82,  150,  166,  261,  322,  363,  426, 
485,  505,  509. 

Fortitude,  99,  123,  320,  378.  See  Courage, 
etc. 

Foss,  Cyrus  D.  The  Five  Gospels,  the 
fifth  Christianity,  "  most  wonderful  man," 
"more  famous  than  any  other  man,"  infi- 
dels admit,  morally  and  intellectually 
unique,  never  says  when  questioned  "De- 
cision reserved,"  answers  profoundly  on 
the  instant,  351,  352,  Preface. 

Foster,  John.  Receives  affection,  Saviour, 
Ascension,  loved  by  martyrs,  incitement 
to  labor,  a  splendid  fact  in  world's  history, 
tribute  of  mankind  to  the  Redeemer,  85. 

Foster,  John  (Winthrop),  193. 

Foundation,  of  Rock  (Jesus),  13,  23,  40,  251, 

339.  374- 
"  Foundations,  The,"  Gibson,  501. 
"  Foundations  of  our  Faith,'"  Riggenbach, 

"3- 

Founder  of  Christianity,  15,  38,  39,  50,  79,  ^t^, 
102,  103,  tii,  141,  171,  195,  19S,  209,  275, 
320,  322,  355,  357,  376,  396,  397,  402,  432, 
45'.  574.  657,  Preface. 

Founder  of  religion,  Renan. 

"Four  Phases  of  Morals,"  Blackie,  250. 

FowLE,  Thomas  Welbank  ("A  New 
Analogy,"  etc.).  His  self-consciousness 
a  consciousness  of  the  Father,  to  be 
unique  in  history  is  to  be  divine,  352,  353 
Life,  Character,  and  Teaching,  endured 
and  consecrated  human  nature,  his  Temp- 
tation difficult  and  mysterious,  "  Natural 
ness,"  "  loved  flowers  and  children,"  met 
the  polytheistic  stumbling  by  combining 
all  excellences,  entry  into  Jerusalem  as 
a  specimen.  Holiness,  realized  Nature's 
ideal,  entered  into  the  joy  of  progress,  his 
"joy,"  naturalness  of  his  teaching,  531- 
538,  Preface. 

Fo.x.  George,  "  a  latent  Christ  in  every 
soul,"  466. 

Francis,  Saint,  467. 

Franklin,  Benjamin.  "  His  system  of 
morals  and  religion  the  best  the  world 
has  seen  or  will  see,"  60,  344. 

Franklin,  Sir  John,  509. 

Frederick  the  Great,  612. 

"  Freedom  of  Faith,"  Munger,  456. 

Friend,  Friendship,  217,  29S,  304,  329,  40S, 
431,  656. 

Fry,  Elizabeth,  193. 

Fulfiller  of  Law  (Jesus),  13. 


FuRNESs,  William  Henry.  "  A  vital  idea," 
adamantine  hold  on  the  world,  like  God, 
like  Nature,  unconscious  wonder-worker, 
never  tried  to  strengthen  himself,  delicate 
spiritual  sense,  no  culture  can  look  down 
on  him,  inborn  royalty,  sceptre  never  to 
be  broken,  forsaken  but  not  unkinged, 
the  Cross  his  Coronation  Day,  363-365, 
Preface. 

Galahad,  piers  towards  the  crown,  366. 

Galileo,  244,  294,  530. 

Gamaliel,  380 ;  and  Paul,  567. 

Gannett,  Ezra  Stiles.  Character  of 
Christ  comprises  God  and  human  duty, 
sinless  and  perfect,  withdraw  any  attrib- 
ute will  make  loss,  no  greater  miracle  than 
himself,  his  life  a  revelation,  Son  of  God, 
learned  through  the  heart,  great  writers 
cannot  get  away  from  their  littleness, 
Christ  always  great,  never  sat  at  Gama- 
liel's feet,  377-380. 

Gautama,  457,  601,  Preface.     See  Buddha. 

Geikie,  Cunningham.  Mohammedans  call 
him  Messiah,  no  ascetic  like  John,  a  man 
among  men,  unselfishness  his  unique 
charm,  Gospel  of  love  divine,  demands 
repentance,  no  need  of  repentance  him- 
self, Patient,  Meek,  yet  extraordinary 
personal  claims.  Dignity,  Calmness,  mys- 
tery of  the  ideal  man,  294-296. 

General,  Jesus  might  have  been,  667. 

"Geniuses  have  empire  over  soul,"  Pascal, 
4T. 

"Genius   of   Christianity,"    Chateaubriand, 

Gentleness,  38.  82,  ^-^^  85,  90,  99,  117,  167, 
178,  190,  196,  244,  250,  303.  473,  675. 

"Genuineness  of  the  Gospels,"  Norton,  322. 

Genuineness  of  the  Gospels,  Wright,  510. 
See  Gospels. 

"George  Eliot,"  461,  502,  Preface. 

"German  Literature,"  Selections,  Tholuck, 
124. 

"Gesta  Christi,"  Brace,  475. 

Gethsemane,  52!,  522,  658. 

Gibbon,  209. 

Gibson,  John  Monro.  No  excellence  lack- 
ing, if  Matthew  created  "  Jesus "  then 
Matthew  was  beyond  Shakespeare,  Re- 
vealer  of  God,  superhuman  character. 
Wisdom,  not  a  reflection  of  his  age.  Ser- 
mon on  Mount,  unstudied  flow,  needs  no 
fine  audience,  501-504,  Preface. 


700 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Gilbert,  Sir  Humphrey,  50S. 

"  Girard  Will  case,"  Webster,  1S5. 

Gladden,  Washington  ("Being  a  Chris- 
tian"). The  Christian  life  an  allegiance 
and  devotion  to  Christ,  a  communication 
with  him,  desire  for  his  righteousness, 
647-649. 

Gladstone,  William  E.  "Our  Lord," 
Teacher  and  Benefactor,  Authority, 
Humanity  and  Divinity,  Sun,  Friend, 
Consoler,  Guide,  Priest  and  King,  217. 

Glory  of  Christ,  the  preacher's  view,  Leigh- 
ton,  60. 

GoDET,  Frederick.  Normal  representa- 
tive of  humanity,  elevation  of  human 
nature,  organ  of  Divine  will,  bridge  be- 
tween finite  and  infinite,  a  real  Man  and 
perfect,  320.  Man's  progress  finds  goal  in 
Jesus,  Perfect  Man,  God  desires  a  Jesus- 
like humanity,  his  ample  human  powers, 
Socrates,  Demosthenes,  affections,  subor- 
dinated to  his  work,  "beholding,  changed 
into  his  image,"  51S-523,  Preface. 

"God  in  History,"  Bunsen,  153. 

"  God-Man,"  Townsend,  249. 

God  manifested  by  Christ,  543.  See  Father, 
Son  of  God,  etc. 

GoDMAN,  William  D.  Person  glorious, 
Harmony,  Equipoise,  Composure,  Calm- 
ness, no  family  pride,  his  thoughts  as 
fresh  as  when  uttered,  "  his  sinlessness, 
a  halo  of  possibilities  to  the  African 
savage,"  a  Saviour,  409-411,  Preface. 

GOETHE,  JOHANN  WOLFGANG  VON.       "  The 

four  Gospels  thoroughly  genuine,"  "  a 
greatness  in  Jesus  as  divine  as  any  thing 
on  earth,"  highest  principle  of  morality, 
culture  and  science  never  will  supersede 
Christianity,  285.  "He  took  the  suffer- 
ing human  race,"  436. 

Goethe,  529,  554,  652. 

Golden  Rule,  portable  as  self-love,  measur- 
ing-rod, makes  self  impartial  judge,  makes 
selfishness  destroy  itself,  312,  3S9,  524. 

Good  Friday,  180. 
1  Goodness,  68,  77,  83,  99,  225,  480. 

Good  Samaritan,  had  just  suffered  from 
Samaritans,  86,  87,  166,  180,  485,  607. 

Good  Shepherd,  317,  450. 

Goodwin,  Henry  ^L  Son  of  Man, 
"  Humanity  individualized  in  one  person," 
Divine  Ideal,  the  universal  man,  mascu- 
line and  feminine,  of  all  ages,  164,  165, 
Preface. 


"Gospel  and  the  Age,"  556. 

"Gospel  for  Nineteenth  Century." 
When  he  died,  his  example  did  not  die, 
his  example  a  living  influence,  the  uplifted 
torch  in  the  ages,  his  thirty  years  of  si- 
lence, laboring  man's  example,  unworld- 
liness,  lofty  claims  but  perfect  humility, 
the  only  perfect  man  humble,  631-640. 

"  Gospel  of  Home-Life,"  640. 

"Gospels,  Authenticity,"  Hinsdale,  652. 

Gospels:  Locke,  76;  Scougal,  77;  Por- 
teous,  84.  Contain  purest  morality,  88. 
Apotheosize  personality,  not  Nature,  103. 
A  sure  testimony,  105.  The  Fifth  Gos- 
pel the  history  of  Christianity,  161.  The 
story  of  Christ,  181,  183.  Simplicity,  no 
panegyric,  187,  204,  205.  Represent  a 
living  original,  Channing,  212,  2S0.  Gen- 
uine, Goethe,  2S5.  Substantial  and  per- 
manent bequest  of  Mediator  of  New 
Testament,  289.  Cannot  be  touched 
without  marring,  Farrar,  290.  Simplicity, 
300.  Simplicity  and  graphic  character, 
300.  A  sj-stem  of  consolation,  307. 
Miraculous  and  moral  portraiture  no 
archetype  in  history,  309.  In  Gospel, 
Jesus  preaches  himself,  318.  Not  an 
invention,  unless  adepts  in  skill  of  decep- 
tion, 315.  "The  humblest  of  men 
preaches  himself,"  318.  Not  a  fiction, 
but "  portraiture  of  character,"  324,  336. 
Compared  with  Xenophon's  Affmoral>ilia, 
337.  "  Never  weary  the  reader,"  grow 
deeper  as  we  fathom,  345.  Five  Gos- 
pels, Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  John,  and 
God's  nineteen  hundred  years  of  Chris- 
tianity, 351.  "Rare  freshness,"  Furness, 
363.  Explained  as  reflection  and  fancy, 
an  error  which  overleaps  the  possible, 
Tischendorf,  369.  "  Collective  reminis- 
cences of  Christ,  a  portraiture  of  the  dis- 
position and  soul,"  3S5.  Truths,  cut, 
polished,  set  in  diadem,  394.  Portraiture 
to  be  accounted  for,  396.  No  panegyric 
or  eulogium,  414.  "Spurious  Gospels" 
unlike  the  real,  attempt  at  panegyric,  415. 
The  life,  a  reality,  a  divine  story,  more 
than  of  human  construction,  achieves  the 
iTiakmg  him  divine  and  human,  no  effort 
but  complete  character,  the  separate  tes- 
timonies prove  the  reality,  the  same  un- 
l^arallclcd  character,  one  Gospel  a  marvel, 
much  more  four,  one  transcendent 
creation,  448.     Difficult  of  chronological 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


'JO  I 


arrangement,  465.  "Modest  narrative," 
492.  liow  could  there  be  four  contem- 
porary men  of  such  creative  genius  as  to 
create  Christ?  502.  "  Utmost  effect  with 
smallest  material,"  "  brevity,  and  dispas- 
sionate character,"  "the  moderation  an 
answer  to  'delusion,'"  511.  "Four  inar- 
tificial lives,"  "  they  alone  are  like  crea- 
tion, flowers,  stars,"  Feabody,  572. 
"  Waste  no  words  in  panegyric,  plain, 
unambitious  narrative,  the  wonderful  life 
had  ceased  to  surprise  them,  like  the 
Alps  to  Alpine  dwellers,"  he  holds  the 
same  spiritual  pre-eminence  as  ever,  573. 
"Biography  that  explains  Chrisi's 
potency,"  493.  No  one  says,  "  Lay  them 
aside,"  Peabody,  572.  A  sketch  to  be 
filled  up  by  succeeding  Christian  lives, 
600.  Memoirs  of  Son  of  man,  not  a  doc- 
trine but  story  of  a  life,  613.  Could  a 
few  Galilaeans  have  equalled  Shak- 
speare  and  Goethe  by  the  creation  of 
Jesus  ?  652.  Read  afresh  as  if  never 
read,  674. 

Grandeur  of  character,  99,  115,  250. 

Greatness,  66.  Insensibly  presented,  81,  83, 
85,  235.     Unostentatious,  345,  534. 

"Great  Question,"  William  Alexander,  614. 

"  Great  Teacher,"  Harris,  302. 

Greenleaf,  Simon.  Gospel  narratives  in 
nakedness  of  simple  truth,  absence  of  pa- 
rade, no  marks  of  wonder,  no  epithets  on 
crucifiers,  disparagement  of  themselves, 
perfect  character  of  Christ,  supremely 
wise,  supremely  good,  heathen  gods  did 
not  equal,  in  accord  with  God,  simplicity 
and  majesty,  overflowing  benignity,  in  all 
situations  the  same,  "  splendor  more  than 
human,"  313-315,  Preface. 

Greg,  William  Rathbone.  His  charac- 
ter exhausts  superlatives,  "closeness  of 
his  communion  with  the  P'ather,"  "noblest 
Being,"  "  highest  Ideal,"  perfect  religious 
genius,  175,  176. 

Griffis,  William  Elliot.  Jesus  studied 
as  to  Syrophenician  woman,  the  steps  of 
his  dealing  with  her,  with  "ready  wit  of 
faith  "  she  caught  the  parable  oi  humanity 
and  its  Saviour,  "  how  manifold  the  char- 
ities of  this  civilization,"  "Jesus  the  cen- 
tre now,  as  then,"  678-6S1. 

Griffith,  Thomas.  "  Foremost  Man," 
unique  Personality,  firmness  yet  flexibility 
of  will,  Majesty,  answer  to  Herod,  central 


fixity,  yet  "myriad-minded  Man,"  stern- 
ness and  compassion,  went  about  doing 
good,  his  attraction  of  men,  "continually 
brightening  splendor,"  418-421,  Preface. 
Griffiths,  William.  Spotless  integrity, 
deep  seriousness,  severe  and  gentle,  flat- 
tery and  conciliation  unknown  to  him, 
"personification  of  purity  and  light," 
good-will  to  men,  did  not  act  greatness, 
he    reached    an    inconceivable   standard, 

372-374- 

Grotius,  Hugo.  Sinlessness,  Example, 
Patience,  Benevolence,  Resurrection,  As- 
cension, Faithfulness  and  Omnipotence, 
Founder  of  Christianity,  39. 

Guizot,  Francois  P.  G.  Two  Christian 
principles  unique,  new  and  sublime  prin- 
ciples, Light  from  Heaven,  Influence  on 
Religion  and  State,  Supernatural,  Hu- 
manity, Divinity,  Miracle-Worker,  65,  66, 
Preface. 

"Guy  Mannering,"  Scott,  671. 

Ilafiz,  443. 

Hall,  Newman.  "A  common  love  for 
Gospel  and  loyalty  to  our  one  Brother, 
Saviour,  Lord,  the  preserver  of  inter- 
national concord  ;  "  the  cardinal  doctrine 
Jesus  Christ  and  him  crucified,  27S. 

Hall,  Roisert.  Example,  Patience,  "re- 
viled, reviled  not  again,"  Miracle- W'orker, 
never  used  miracles  for  himself.  Gentle- 
ness, Sympathy,  Unselfishness,  Forgive- 
ness, 82,  83. 

Hamlet,  207,  367,  459,  502. 

Handel,  "Messiah,"  452,  596. 

"  Handfuls  of  Honey,"  Spurgeon,  469. 

Hanna,  William.  Gave  the  Good  Sa- 
maritan when  he  had  just  suffered  from 
their  intolerance.  Benevolence,  he  was 
more  than  Good  Samaritan  to  the  race, 
86. 

Hardwick,  Charles.  Satisfied  spiritual 
cravings,  image  of  Father,  Firstborn  of 
brotherhood.  Light,  Sovereign  Lord  of 
all,  25s.  256. 

Harmony  of  contrasts.  336,  409. 

Harris,  John.  His  character  does  not 
neutralize,  but  magnify  his  teaching, 
he  loved  man  as  man.  Light  and  Life 
of  the  world,  his  heart  had  room  for 
the  world,  worked  for  future,  neglected 
not  the  present,  like  the  Almighty 
Father    sustaining    worlds    yet    helping 


702 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


a  bird,  Philanthropist  and  Friend,  mag- 
nificent yet  unlabored,  great  yet  simple, 
constellation  of  virtues,  enlightened  to 
save,  Gospel  to  the  poor,  universal  reli- 
gion. Teacher,  his  leading  topics  few, 
superiority  to  ingratitude,  character  a 
proof  of  the  Gospel,  received  homage  of 
fallen  spirits,  character  invites  inspection, 
convinces  and  transforms,  gives  redemp- 
tion to  depraved,  hope  to  despondent, 
challenges  affection, simplifies  the  science 
of  morals,  enfilades  territory  of  sin,  302- 
313,  Preface. 

Harris,  Samuel.  No  one  so  many  biog- 
raphies, Strauss  did  opposite  to  his  inten- 
tion, stirred  the  world  towards  life  of 
Christ,  Christ  the  great  evidence  of 
Christianity,  the  Incarnation,  God  in 
Christ  reconciling  world,  humanity  in  a 
form  of  life,  love  in  concrete,  God  in 
Christ  the  basis  of  philosophy  of  history, 
Christ  central  in  history,  Christianity  the 
tree  Ygdrasil,  Christ  not  outrun  like  the 
Scandinavian  god,  595-59S,  Preface. 

Hartley,  David.  Character,  Love  to 
God,  Love  to  I\Lin,  Humility,  Self-Denial, 
Meekness,  Patience,  Prudence,  his  char- 
acter not  a  fiction  but  a  copy.  Gospel 
gives  no  encomiums  but  plain  descrip- 
tions, Messiah,  Saviour,  Greatness  of 
character,  they  drew  his  character  by  his 
deeds,  not  by  eulogy,  unconsciously,  80, 
81,  Preface. 

Hase,  Karl  August.  Not  a  writer,  Chris- 
tianity a  life,  not  system  of  opinions,  his 
gospel  preached,  combination  of  powers, 
love  of  God  in  perfect  humanity,  called 
the  publican,  joyful,  unlike  the  Baptist's 
rigor,  not  afraid  of  joys,  founded  a  king- 
dom, Teacher,  his  doctrine  the  communi- 
cation of  the  insights  of  a  perfect  soul, 
Messiah,  Divinity,  Christ  a  Revelation, 
tog-i  1 1. 

Hausrath,  Adolf.  God  the  living  Father 
of  men,  not  the  "jealous  God,"  the  filial 
consciousness  which  could  be  only  in  a 
pure,  l)Iameless  mind,  sinless  to  Deity, 
witiiout  human  restlessness,  absolutely 
normal  state  of  human  nature  in  Christ, 
499. 

Havelock,  Ilcnry,  509. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  Preface. 

Havward,  Edward  Farvvell.  Jesus  the 
phenomenal  Man,  demanded  a  new  out- 


look in  man,  rarest,  most  comprehensive, 
most  exalted,  spirituality  requires  the 
whole  man,  "  the  race  of  whole  men 
began  and  ended  with  Christ,"  his  spirit 
has  a  winged  step,  conclusive  and  cosmo- 
politan, gives  life,  not  the  form,  God  and 
communion,  man  at  his  unknown  possi- 
bilities, talked  of  God  as  if  he  had  just 
left  him,  511-51S,  Preface. 

Healer  of  sick,  Matthew,  20;  Ranke,  76, 
669.  Life-saving  means  and  remedies, 
6S1. 

Heathen  philosophers  compared,  122.  See 
Socrates,  etc. 

Heaven,  Christ  came  from,  Jesus,  17  ;  John, 
22. 

Ileber,  193. 

Hecuba,  367. 

Hedge,  Frederick  Henry  ("The  Atone- 
ment"). Hero  of  all  times  and  climes, 
will  always  be  centre  of  history,  leagued 
with  him  in  the  central  history  of  life, 
perfectness  of  life.  Divinity  incarnated, 
his  virtues  show  our  defects,  yet  reveal 
a  Christ  in  our  soul  responsive  to  historic 
Christ,  275,  276.  Only  a  Christ  could 
invent  a  Christ,  he  made  the  ideal,  the 
ideal  Christ  the  root  of  the  historical, 
without  the  antecedent  ideal,  the  history 
never  would  have  been,  429,  Preface. 

Hegel,  Georg  Wilhelm  Friederich. 
Compares  with  Socrates,  talents,  charac- 
ter and  morals,  Sinlessness,  Divinity  at- 
tested by  the  soul,  64. 

Hegel,  Preface,  "  symbol  of  union  of  Di- 
vine and  human,"  294,  452,  554. 

Henry,  Joseph,  601. 

Herbert,  George,  268.  "  My  God,  what  is  a 
heart  t  "  508. 

Hercules,  242;  Belvidere,  585. 

Herder's  "Philosophy  of  History,"  135. 

Herod,  231,  346,  419,  667,  668. 

Heroes,  comparison,  Taylor,  100. 

High  Priest,  27;  Hebrews,  28;  Clement, 
2^;  Ignatius,  37,  120,  143,  217,  557.  Better 
than  Melchizedek,  579. 

Hill,  Georgf.  Perfect  character,  all  vir- 
tues. Majesty,  Condescension,  Originality, 
his  character  not  invention,  no  panegyric, 
1S7. 

Hill,  Thomas.  Cites  a  friend,  "  Wit''Out 
Christ  I  could  only  hope  things :  I  be- 
lieve he  knows,"  the  New  Testament  gives 
me  perfect  faith  in  his  wisdom,  holiness, 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


I^Z 


truth,  a  light  clearer  than  noonday  sun, 
tender  love,  pours  down  Spirit's  gifts,  he 
made  the  important  truths  plain  and  cer- 
tain, 504-506. 

Hillel,  411,  412. 

Hinsdale,  Burke  Aaron.  Inimitable 
character,  drawn  from  life,  Evangelists 
could  not  have  created  Jesus,  analyses  of 
Christ's  powers,  his  wonderful  equipoise, 
they  say  he  taught  wonderfully,  but  his 
words  more  wonderful  still,  who  could 
have  fabricated  a  Jesus  ?  652-655. 

Hippocrates,  530. 

"  Hiram  the  king  and  Hiram  the  architect," 
67S. 

"  Historic  Influence  of  Death  of  Christ," 
Simon,  391. 

"  History  of  Christ,"  Sears. 

"  History  of  Christianity,"  Abbott,  J.  S.  C, 
478 ;  Milman,  139. 

"  History  of  European  Morals,"  Lecky,  170. 

"  History  of  Jesus  of  Nazara,"  Keim,  551. 

"  History  of  New  Testament  Times,"  Haus- 
rath,  499. 

"  History  of  Popes,"  Ranke,  76. 

"  History  of  Rationalism  in  Europe,"  Lecky, 
376. 

Hodge,  Charles.  Mediator,  Sinless,  Sacri- 
fice, High  Priest,  E.xample,  142,  143. 

Hogg,  the  poet,  671. 

Holiness  of  Jesus,  "  Holy  Child  Jesus," 
23,42,44,  76,  77,  78,  83,    105,    115,  200, 

343.  507.  533- 

Holy  Spirit,  penetrated  by,  Ullmann,  107, 
134,  200,  255,. 289,  318,  518,  522,  595. 

Homage  of  fallen  spirits,  310. 

Homer,  136,  206,  286,  353,  371,  3S6,  433, 
440,  477.  528,  529.  565.  6ii,  659,  667. 

Homes,  293. 

Homoousians,  etc.,  377. 

Hooker,  Richard.  Visible  Presence  of 
Deity,  46. 

Hopkins,  Mark.  Christ's  character  the 
central  orb  of  his  system,  without  which 
no  light  or  heat,  claims  affection  as  well 
as  belief,  he  is  goodness  in  action,  the 
originality  of  his  conception  of  moral  ex- 
cellence, we  can  appreciate  though  not 
create,  moral  genius  produces  inconceiv- 
able actions,  the  highest  form  of  genius, 
the  highest  genius  to  produce  human 
form,  the  highest  genius  to  produce  a 
perfect  human  being,  Christ  majestic,  sim- 
ple, beautiful,  perfect,  to  describe  such  a 


character  great,  to  be  that  character  won- 
derful, nothing  offensive  to  taste,  suscep- 
tible to  joy  and  suffering,  friendship,  the 
great  qualities  essential  in  Messiah  and 
Saviour,  more  than  example,  sinless,  bal- 
anced intellect,  no  enthusiast,  no  impostor, 
326-332,  Preface. 

"  Hours  of  Thought  on  Sacred  Things," 
Martineau,  341. 

Howard,  John,  193,  354. 

Hughes,  Thomas.  Courage  before  Pilate, 
Wisdom,  Sympathy,  Head  of  Humanity, 

174.  175- 

"Hulsean  Lectures:"  Perrowne,  144;  Moor- 
house,  163. 

"  Human  Character  of  Christ,"  Austin,  85. 

Humanity  of  Christ,  38.  Perfect,  Spinoza, 
43;  Voltaire,  46;  Jefferson,  50;  Paine,  52; 
Priestly,  55,  66;  and  Divinity,  Guizot,  65, 
73,  76 ;  Edwards,  78.  "  Crown  of  our  race, 
surety  and  guaranty  of  our  perfection : " 
Auberlen,  84;  Neander,  91.  "Unrivalled 
man,"  99.  Head,  loi,  112,  God  in  human- 
ity, 109, 1 18, 126, 141,  "  Humanity  in  Christ 
is  in  normal  state,"  146,  147,  Jesus  the 
only  estimator,  149,  164,  165,  174,  217,  241, 
"  Humanity's  want,"  Chapin,  245.  "  Per- 
fection," Collier,  247,  264,  300,  320, 
"Complete  in  compassion  compared  with 
others,"  325.  "Ideal  representative  and 
guide,"  Mill,  325.  "  Human  perfections  " 
not  divine  perfections  out  of  our  reach,  335. 
"  The  supreme  man,"  Storrs,  362.  Human- 
ity of  Christianity,  42S.     Head,  463,  5S6. 

Humboldt,  267. 

Humility  and  Obedience*  Cyprian,  36,  58, 
66,  Pascal,  42,  45,  Wesley,  50,  76,  P'.d- 
wards,  78,  80,  97,  Isaac  Taylor,  100,  138, 
"A  king  in  humility,"  270,  314,  320,  336, 
377.  478,  507.  533.  5S4.  5S6,  636,  638. 

Hunger  he  relieved  only  twice,  sickness 
always:  Chalmers,  Whately,  97. 

Huntington,  Frederick  D.  The  perfect 
Man,  no  disproportion  to  spoil  the  svm- 
metry,  all  tempered  faultlessly  together, 
consummate  Example,  319,  320. 

Huntington,  Lady,  193. 

Hutton,  Richard  Holt.  Divinity,  hu- 
man nature  in  earthly,  Christ  stirred  all 
men,  "  the  passion  of  his  will  fastened  on 
God,"  absence  of  self-reproach,  childlike 
lowliness  and  perfect  kingliness,  a  filial 
will,  the  divinity  of  his  free  will,  humility 
but  no  humiliation,  434-438. 


704 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Ideal,  "culmination  of  the  race,"  409,  439, 
446,  but  practicable,  549.  Compared  with 
ascetic,  chivalric,  scientific,  commercial, 
577.  Ideal  of  man  in  union  with  God,  596. 
Divine  Man,  59S,  643,  "  Uncreate  Ideal, 
the  object  of  our  worship  forever,"  644. 

Ignatius.     High  Priest,  Door,  Church,  37. 

Iliad,  207, 37 1.    "  Ballad  of  Troy  Town,"  61 1. 

Image  of  God :  Hebrews,  28 ;  Origen,  35;  and 
Presence  of  God,  Hooker,  46,  59,  63,  69, 
91,  118,  126,  186,  445. 

•'Imitation  of  Christ,"  Kempis,  40, 

Imitation  of  Christ,  72,  73;  our  duty  and 
privilege,  335,  587.     See  Exaifiple,  etc. 

Immortality,  Teacher  of:  Samuel  Johnson, 
49;  Jefferson,  50,  56,  58.  "Immortality 
endows  virtue,  gives  advantage  to  virtue," 
Locke,  75,  76,  116,  261. 

Impostor,  impossible,  Hopkins,  332.  See 
JEvangelisis,  Gospels. 

"Incarnate  Saviour,"  Nicoll,  140. 

Incarnation,  "  incarnated  from  above,"  22, 
115,  116,119,315.  "  Incarnation  the  world 
in  which  we  live,"  362, 437,  505,  595.  See 
Divinity,  Son  of  God. 

"  Infancy,  Gospel  of,"  Arabic,  290. 

"Infidels  got  their  good  from  Christianity," 
Simpson,  567. 

Infinite:  Jesus,  15;  John,  22;  Paul,  26,  27. 
"  Greatness  and  goodness,"  Edwards,  78, 
103.    Perfection,  187.    See  Son  o/' Got/,  etc. 

"Influence  of  Jesus,"  Phillips  Brooks,  315. 

"  Ingham  Lectures,"  Godman,  409. 

Insight  of  Jesus,  483,  668.  See/esns,  Son  of 
God,  etc. 

Institutions, "  hospitals,"  etc.,  395.  See  C/tcr- 
ities.  Benevolence,  Church,  etc. 

Intellect,  balanced,  333. 

"Intellectual  Greatness  of  Jesus,"  Chaffin. 

Intercessor:  Bacon,  40;  Bossuet,  43. 

Interpreter  of  God  and  man,  Pascal,  42. 

"Interjjrctation  of  Scripture,"  Thomas  Ar- 
nold, 179. 

Invention  of  Jesus  impossible,  664.  See 
Impostor,  Jesus,  Gospels,  Evangelists. 

Isaac,  659. 

Isaiah,  22,  432,  528,  529,  606,  614. 

Israel's  Glory,  29. 

Jacob,  606,  659. 

Jacobi,  "  symbol  of  ideal  perfection,"  294. 

Jaco])'s  ladder  like  Christ,  145. 

Jairus's  daughter,  651. 

James,  22,  227,  34S,  3S6,  60S. 


Jefferson,  Thomas.  Teacher,  virtues  all, 
sinlessness,  humanity,  estimate  of  his  doc- 
trines, monotheist,  benevolence,  teacher 
of  immortality,  50. 

Jeremiah,  14,  606. 

Jerome,  "majesty  of  Godhead  in  his  face," 
291. 

Jesse,  609. 

Jesus'  Testimony  to  Himself.  Fulfils 
law.  Judge  of  all,  rock  foundation,  Lord, 
Miracle- Worker,  13.  King,  Messiah,  Son 
of  God,  Son  of  man,  Judge  of  all.  Arbitra- 
tor of  destiny,  Rest-Giver,  Yoke-Placer, 
Greater  than  temple,  Lord  of  Sabbath, 
14,  15.  Omnipotent,  baptism  into  his 
name,  omnipresent,  ransom,  Messiah,  Son 
of  man.  Caller  to  repentance.  Giver  of 
his  blood,  15.  Resurrection,  Life,  Raiser 
of  dead.  Judge  of  all,  to  be  honored  as  the 
leather,  omnipotent,  16.  Door,  sent  of 
God,  voluntary  death,  came  down  from 
heaven,  Bread,  Light,  Resurrection,  Truth, 
Life-Giver,  sinlessness,  17.  Good  Shep- 
herd, Resurrection,  Life,  above  men's 
power.  Light,  will  come  again  with  power 
and  angels,  omnipotent,  18.  Joyful,  Vine, 
Sender  of  Spirit,  came  from  God,  returns 
to  God,  "  in  the  Father, .  and  the  Father 
in  me,"  sinlessness,  19.  Miracle-Worker, 
sight  to  blind,  etc.,  20.  King  of  Jews  (to 
Pilate),  31. 

Jesus,  character  cannot  be  invention  :  Rous- 
seau, 48 ;  Newcome,  59  ;  Paley,  61.  "I  Lero 
of  the  story,"  Guizot,  66.  "His  life  not 
an  invention,"  79.  Compared  with  heroes, 
79.  His  history  no  fiction,  80,  Si.  "Not 
a  fiction,  but  a  copy,"  98.  "  Infinite  soul 
of  Christ  the  foundation  of  all  Christian 
influences,"  103.  "A  revelation  of  God," 
III.  "  No  fiction,  but  history,"  113,  114. 
"  Knowledge  of  him  a  science,"  Faber, 
115.  "  The  Truth,  not  a  truth-seeker,"  117. 
"  Greatest  miracle,  the  restoration  by  love 
of  the  human  race,"  117.  "  Revelation  of 
God,"  119.  "  His  birth  the  epoch  of  the 
ages,"  121.  "A  class  by  himself,"  123. 
"His  life  a  miracle,"  124.  "Ascension 
compared  with  Elijah's,"  "  their  One  and 
All,"  Tholuck,  125.  "His  words  a  di- 
vine voice,"  131.  "  Superhuman  pres- 
ence," 131.  "Exalts  the  future,"  137. 
"His  story  not  a  dream,  but  a  history," 
140.  "The  problem  of  the  age,"  "the 
standard    of    the    ages,"    140.      "  Never 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


705 


appears  strange  to  himself,"  147.  "Sur- 
prises of  his  goodness,"  "  Alps  of  good- 
ness,""a  Holy  Land,"  "Has  never  been  re- 
produced," "a  river  from  eternity  through 
time,"  14S.  "The  only  soul  in  history 
who  appreciates  the  worth  of  a  man," 
Emerson,  149.  "  Every  sentence  a  mas- 
terpiece of  uniqueness," "  imperial  intel- 
lect, imperial  heart,"  Armitage,  158. 
"  Like  the  central  link  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
road binds  continents,"  160.  "His  char- 
acter no  invention,"  Porter,  166.  "  His 
doctrine  not  like  those  whose  works  per- 
ish with  the  errors  they  destroy,  but  a 
universal  code,"  177.  Not  a  writer,  177. 
Story  could  not  be  invented,  183.  Ibid, 
1S7.  "  His  similar  never  reproduced," 
205.  Life  cannot  be  a  fiction,  209.  His 
story  not  an  invention,  236,  316.  "  Never 
traced  to  any  exemplar,"  237.  "  Jesus, 
there  is  no  dearer  name,"  poem  by  Theo- 
dore Parker,  241.  "Only  a  Jesus  could 
fabricate  a  Jesus,"  T.  Parker,  242.  No 
portrait  satisfies,  253.  Seyeddua  Eesa, 
"Lord  Jesus,  on  whom  be  peace"  (Mo- 
ham.),  275.  Could  not  have  been  a  delu- 
sion, "not  an  aping  of  the  Supreme," 
322.  "  His  portraiture  not  fabulous,  tra- 
ditionary stories,  any  more  than  Apollo 
Belvedere  the  work  of  novice,"  324.  "  His 
self-assertion  does  not  shock  us,"  Sears, 
325,  326.  "  No  human  invention,  his 
character  like  great  mountains  and  starry 
heavens,"  Hopkins,  330.  "  The  most  cer- 
tain, the  most  sacred,  the  most  glorious  of 
all  facts,"  too  great  to  have  been  invented, 
349.  "  Only  a  Jesus  could  forge  Jesus," 
357.  Cannot  be  a  fable  or  poetry,  362. 
"  No  myth,  but  leads  the  wakeful  quest 
of  the  world,  fires  her  energies,  the  life- 
giving  Spirit,"  366.  "Eagle  with  sun- 
sustaining  eyes,"  367.  "  Not  a  fiction,  they 
could  not  have  depicted,"  compare  with 
spurious  Gospels,  Whately,  415.  "No 
dream,"  437.  Magnet,  441.  "A  latent 
Christ  in  ever}-  soul,"  George  Fox,  466. 
"  The  sweet  Jesus  of  the  Galilee  lake," 
Mozoomdar,  443.  "  First  a  church,  then 
a  book,"  465.  "  No  buried  statue,  no 
fossil  remain,  but  a  living  form,"  "  on  the 
circle  of  the  eternal  dial,  One  that  was 
lowly  and  lordly  at  the  head,"  Bartol, 
478.  "  The  great  luminary  of  the  spiritual 
world,"  481.     "  His  words  the  new  map   | 


of  the  divine  kingdom,"  484.  Potentially 
poet,  orator,  general,  king,  scientist,  an- 
alyst of  character,  667. 

"Jesus  and  Hillel,"  Delitzsch,  141. 

"Jesus  and  his  Critics,"  Bartol,  477. 

"Jesus,  a  portrait,"  Barker,  260. 

"Jesus  Christ,"  Lacordaire,  156. 

"Jesus  Christ,  European  and  Asiatic," 
Keshub  Chunder  Sen,  188. 

"Jesus  Christ;  Life,  Times,  Work,"  Press- 
ense,  160. 

"  Jesus,  greatness  as  man  and  Saviour," 
Wood,  667. 

Jesus  in  art,  "  no  head  of  Christ  satisfies," 
Roussel,  253.  Handkerchief  of  Veronica, 
etc.,  Lecky,  377.  No  portrait  extant, 
Beecher,  383.  Lentulus,  384,  385.  Tra- 
ditional face  universal  type,  387.  "  Long, 
uncut  locks,"  Mozoomdar,  443.  Poets 
and  painters,  489.  His  portrait  adapted 
by  each  nation,  609. 

"Jesus  of  Nazara,"  Keim,  551. 

"Jesus  of  Nazareth:"  Abbott,  L.,  125; 
Clodd,  494. 

"Jesus  of  the  Evangelists,"  Row,  318. 

"  Jesus  the  World's  Saviour,"  Lorimer,  542. 

Jew,  but  not  Judaistic,  295,  572,  607. 

"Jewish  Church,"  Stanley,  257. 

"Jewish  Disabilities,"  Macaulay,  180. 

Jewish  Messiah,  210. 

Jew  of  Nazareth,  1S5. 

Jezebel,  678. 

Job,  528,  529. 

Joel,  678. 

John  Baptist.  Lamb  of  God,  Bearer  of 
the  world's  sins,  Pre-existence,  Greater 
than  John,  Spirit  coming  on  him  as  Dove, 
sent  of  God,  Spirit  without  measure,  Bap- 
tizer  with  Holy  Spirit,  Omnipotent,  Son 
of  God,  29. 

John  Baptist,  14,  20,  24,  216,  294,  447,  668, 
672. 

JoH.v  THE  Ev.\NGEi,iST.  Word,  Word  was 
God,  in  the  beginning  with  God,  all 
things  made  through  him,  Life,  Light,  in- 
carnated, only-begotten  of  the  Father,  full 
of  grace  and  truth,  Moses'  successor, 
Messiah,  22,  23. 

John  the  Evangelist,  22,  145,  216,  227,  268. 
"Person  of  Christ  his  theme,"  317,  348, 
372,  379,  3S6,  404.  His  Gospel,  Word  of 
God,  but  Son  of  Man,  450,  460,  467,  568. 
"Christian  Cosmogony,"  537,  611,  651, 
668.     "  The  last  evangelist,"  496. 


7o6 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Johnson,  Herrick.  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, Jesus  tiie  cause  of  Christianit}', 
the  heart  of  Christianity,  152,  153. 

Johnson,  Samuel.  Teacher  of  immortal- 
ity, 49. 

Jonah,  473. 

Joseph,  envied,  674. 

Joseph  of  Arimathea,  461. 

JosEPHUS,  Flavius.  Wisdom,  man  or 
superior  ?  Teacher,  Crucified,  Resurrec- 
tion, Prophets,  Founder  of  Christianity, 
attracted  Jews  and  Greeks,  3S,  2S3,  2S4, 
Preface. 

Joy  of  soul,  Leighton,  59.  Of  progress, 
Christ  and  Christianity,  535,  536,  537. 

Judas  Iscariot.  Sinlessness,  32.  Christ's 
Patience,  Cyprian,  36,  78,  131,  166.  A 
spy  and  witness,  214,  356,  6:4. 

Judas  Maccabaeus,  210,  235. 

Judge  of  all,  Jesus,  13,  14,  17.  Peter,  24;  56, 
loi,  322,  330,  444. 

Judson,  337. 

Jupiter,  405. 

Justice,  336. 

Justification  and  Reconciliation,  102. 

Justin  Martyr.  Compared  with  Socrates, 
Power  of  the  Ineffable  Father,  37. 

Justin  Martyr,  "Apology,"  37. 

Kant,  Immanuel.  Divinity,  Sermon  on 
Mount,  Teacher,  Example,  Founder  of 
Christianity,  Church  and  Kingdom  of 
God,  50,  51.  "  Symbol  of  ideal  perfection," 
294.  "  Starry  heavens,"  349.  "  Back  to 
Kant,"  5S7. 

Kei.m,  Theodore.  "  A  model  unique,  the 
Divine  self-communication,"  a  master 
above  all  past,  present,  future,  the  final 
messenger  of  God,  compared  with  others, 
his  doctrine  of  Divine  humanity,  his  God- 
consciousness,  Virtue  trod  the  earth  in 
him,  251-256,  Preface.  "  History  has  pro- 
vided no  parallel,  unique,"  271. 

Kempis,  Thomas  a.  Lord,  Life,  E.\ample, 
Light,  Teacher,  Comforts,  Good  Treasure, 
40,  41,  268,  Preface. 

Kepler,  294,  601. 

King,  Kingdom,  etc.,  14,  19,  30,  41,  42. 
King  and  Victor  in  love,  Bossuet,  44,  56, 
63,  no,  116,  119,  126;  and  Legislator, 
143.     Renan,  156,  217,  298,  50S,  510,  667. 

King,  Thomas  Starr.  Talked  to  the 
universal  soul,  the  highest  man,  greatest 
benefactor,   love    and    sympathy,   meek. 


majestic,  highest  qualities  in  the  spiritual 
world,  247-249,  Preface. 

KiNGSLEY,  Charles.  Still  lives,  sets  ex- 
ample, perfect  King  of  men's  spirits,  202, 
203. 

Klopstock,  349. 

Knowledge  of  men,  56,  58 ;  and  God,  Fichte, 
62,  99,  144,  156,  iSo,  453. 

Koran,  354,  540. 

Lacordaire,  Jean  Baptiste  Henrl 
Most  venerable  form  in  history,  incom- 
parable Person,  analysis  of  his  character, 
"evangelic  unction,"  compared  with  war- 
riors, 156,  157. 

La  Fontaine,  529. 

Lamb  of  God,  28.     See  Sacrifice,  etc. 

Lange,  Johann  Peter.  Made  nature 
shine  as  mirror  of  the  spirit,  transfigures 
nature  and  man,  every  man  has  met  a 
mirror  of  him,  162,  Preface. 

Laocoon,  207. 

Lao-tse,  400. 

Lassure,  "  Is  God  divided  t  "  271. 

"Last  Days  of  Saviour,"  Olshausen,  116. 

Lavoisier,  530. 

Law,  Edmund.  Humility,  Greatness,  Di- 
vinity, Humanity,  Omnipotence,  Lord, 
greater  than  Solomon,  Obedience,  honors 
the  Father,  severe  against  Temple  pro- 
faners,  compassion  to  sinners,  conde- 
scension, 66,  67,  Preface. 

Law,  William.  E.xample,  Saviour,  Teach- 
er, Life,  Sinless,  Humanity,  we  may 
follow  his  spirit  if  not  attain  to  it,  72-75, 
Preface. 

Law,  Fulfiller,  22, 

Lawgiver,  Matthew,  20,  46,  174,  613. 

Lazarus,  33S,  419,  454,  651,  663. 

Lear,  207,  367. 

Leathes,  Stanley.  Person  of  Christ  his 
highest  evidence,  his  words  im]5ly  his 
works,  the  centre  of  Pauline  teaching, 
Christ  his  own  evidence,  anomaly  in  his- 
tory, not  produced  by  Judaism,  288. 

Lecky,  William  E.  H.  Christianity  pre- 
sents an  ideal  character,  his  three  years 
of  life  the  regeneration  of  humanity. 
Founder  of  Church,  170,  171.  The  one 
religion  not  subverted  by  civilization, 
Christianity  has  been  the  moral  develop- 
ment of  Europe,  its  moral  progress  dis- 
tinctively Christian,  moral  division,  his 
ideal  traversed  the  ages,  with  new  strength 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


707 


and  beauty,  the  moral  idea  clear  from 
dogmatic  conceptions,  altogether  unique 
in  history,  highest  revelation  of  Deity, 
376-380,  Preface. 

"  Lectures  on  Matthew,"  Porteous,  S3. 

Lee,  J.  W.  How  account  for  the  force  of 
Christ  in  domestic,  social,  political,  and 
ecclesiastical  institutions .''  his  life  cannot 
be  accounted  for  by  correlation  of  forces, 
the  centre,  like  the  sun,  he  becomes  richer 
by  giving,  579-5S6. 

Leibnitz,  262,  302. 

Leighton,  Robert.  Satisfying,  enjoy- 
ment. Light,  a  comfort  and  defence,  per- 
petual glory.  Lord  and  Master,  59,  60, 
268,  370,  Preface. 

Leonidas,  47. 

Lesley,  J.  Peter.  "  I  call  him  Lord  and 
Master  as  a  man  of  exact  science.  I 
worship  Jesus  of  Nazareth  as  the  ideal 
Man,  King  of  men.  Nor  is  worship  a  whit 
too  strong,  historically  at  head  of  the  race, 
avatar  of  God  of  justice,  love  and  order, 
the  new  world  on  the  basis  of  Jesus,  600- 
602,  Preface. 

"Letter  to  Stiles,"  Franklin,  60. 

Letters  dated  A.  D.,  406. 

LiDDON,  Henry  Parry  ("  Bampton 
Lectures  ").  "  Moral  portrait  balanced 
and  harmonious,"  sincerity,  brings  others 
to  sincerity,  foes  and  friends,  probes 
them  (examples),  he  was  unselfish, 
'•  pleased  not  himself,"  self-sacrifice  in 
all  its  range,  Friend  of  publicans  and  sin- 
ners, Consoler,  inimitable  in  activities  and 
temper,  his  perfections  a  faultless  ideal 
of  beauty,  Jesus  the  highest  model,  '})},y- 

335- 

Life,  17,  18,  22,  27,  40.  Life  eternal,  Shak- 
speare,  48,  72,  195,  303,  393. 

"Life  and  Character  of  Christ,"  Edmund 
Law,  66. 

"  Life  and  Character  of  Jesus  of  Naza- 
reth," Furness,  363. 

"Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah," 
Edersheim,  479. 

"Life  and  Words  of  Christ,"  Geikie,  294, 

*'  Life  of  Christ,"  Reecher,  3S3,  3S4,  653. 

"  Life  of  Christ,"  Farrar,  290. 

*'Life  of  Christ,"  Neander,  91. 

"Life  of  Christ,"  Weiss,  444. 

*•  Life  of  Christ  in  the  World,"  Brooks,  A., 

574- 
"  Life  of  Jesus,"  Hase,  109. 


"  Life  of  Jesus,"  Renan,  155. 

"  Life  of  Jesus,"  Savage,  162. 

"Life  of  Jesus  Christ,"  Ewald,  126. 

"  Life  of  Jesus  Christ,"  Stalker,  489. 

"  Life  of  Jesus  the  Christ,"  Beecher,  383. 

"  Life  of  God,"  etc.,  Scougal,  77. 

"  Life  of  our  Lord,"  Andrews,  196. 

Light,  17,  18,  22,  29.  Clement  of  Rome, 
Zl^  40,  59-  142,  188,  247,  256,  303.  Light 
of  history  and  of  the  soul,  351,  362.  "  The 
great  luminary  of  the  spiritual  world," 
48 1.     See  Sun. 

"Light  of  Asia"  and  Light  of  the  World, 
4S2. 

Lilies  of  the  field,  329,  667. 

Lincoln,  430.    Christ's  moulding  power,  601. 

Linnaeus,  601. 

"  Literature  and  Dogma,"  M.  Arnold,  374. 

LiVERMORE,  Abiel  Abbott.  Character of 
Jesus  the  great  proof  of  divinity  of  Chris- 
tianity, even  when  most  at  sea,  the  ever- 
lasting rock,  as  a  motive  force,  the  leaven 
in  the  measures  of  meal,  "  glory  of  God 
in  the  face  of  Christ,"  "  Nothing  comes 
of  nothing,"  and  the  reverse  is  true,  cre- 
ated new  standard  of  character,  the  echo 
was  made  by  a  voice.  Original,  kings 
before  and  again,  but  no  Jesus,  a  type  of 
his  own.  One  with  God,  "  the  ever-renew- 
ing hope  of  our  civilization,"  regeneration 
of  men,  370-372. 

Livingstone,  Dr.,  509. 

"  Living  words,"  Chapin,  244. 

Locke,  John.  Teacher  of  Immortality,  Res- 
urrection, Ascension,  75,  76.  Neither  an 
impostor  nor  enthusiast,  spotless,  no  vain- 
glory, his  answers  to  questions,  surpasses 
all  moral  instructors,  402,  403 ;  337,  362. 

"  Logic  of  Christian  evidences,"  Wright,  50S. 

Lord,  of  Sabbath,  14,  15;  18,  23,  24,  2,^1  36. 
40,  50,  56,  60,  66,  97,  107,  118,  179,  217, 
226,  227,  239,  247,  256,  278,  289,  298,  2,7,h 
4t6,  598,  63S. 

'■  Lord's  conduct  as  Instructor,"  Newcome, 
56. 

Lord's  Prayer,  "  condensation  of  devout 
thought,"  ''litany  of  the  ages,"  524,  5S3. 

LoRiMER,  George  C.  Christ  in  history 
more  marvellous  than  Christ  in  Galilee, 
his  work  since  Ascension,  leader  of  prog- 
ress, 493,  494.  Jesus  the  source  of  the 
most  sacred  hopes  of  the  race,  receives 
humanity  and  sends  it  forth  in  blessing, 
like  Lake  Lucerne,  542. 


7o8 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


LoTZE,  Hermann.  Humility,  submission, 
and  liope  came  witli  Christianity,  the  Life 
worked  into  society  and  life  through  the 
Church,  5SS. 

"Lotze  taught  that  God  was  in  Christ  as  in 
no  other  soul,"  Cook,  586,  Preface. 

Love,  to  God,  77.  To  God  and  men,  So,  90, 
107,  108,  109,  117,  126,  140,  141,  142,  150. 
178,  191,  242.  "New  and  unparalleled," 
love  not  "within  limits,"  4S1. 

Lowell,  Preface. 

Lowliness,  633,  637,  638.  "The  only  per 
feet  Man  was  humble,"  639  See  Hti- 
vtility.  Meekness,  etc. 

LowRiE,  John  Marshall.  Biography 
abundantly  rewritten  by  friends  and  foes, 
most  remarkable  and  permanent  power 
after  him,  living  and  life-giving  principles, 
the  Gospel  became  the  faith  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  his  acts  and  words  more  power- 
ful after  death,  kingdom  of  moral  prin 
ciples.  Friend,  Teacher,  Redeemer,  Lord, 
296-298. 

Loyola,  206. 

Lucerne,  Lake,  542. 

Luke.  Had  the  power  of  the  Spirit, 
Teacher  went  about,  famous  in  his  day, 
inaugural,  fulfilled  the  Scriptures,  Lord, 
21.     Paintings,  377,  450. 

LuTHARDT,  Christian  Ernst.  Chris- 
tianity a  fact,  the  fact  of  Jesus,  he  is 
Christianity,  Love,  Gentleness,  Meek 
ness,  Majesty,  Harmony,  Vitality,  Unity; 
all  previous  history  a  prophecy  of  him, 
object  of  our  aspirations,  177-179. 

Luther,  Martin.  Gentle,  compassion- 
ate, wise,  38. 

Luther,  Martin,  Parker,  241,  268,  352,  379, 
430,  601,  612,  620. 

Lycurgus,  424,  425. 

Macaulay,  Thomas  B.  "Jewish  Dis- 
abilities," commanded  love,  tolerance 
should  be  the  fruit,  180,  549. 

McCosii,  James.  Speaks  as  never  man 
spake,  above  the  sages  of  antiquity,  clear 
but  compassionate,  attracts  children, 
preaches  Gospel  to  poor.  Lord,  226. 

Macdonald,  George.  "  In  my  name," 
receiving  child  means  that  Christ  is  the 
child,  use  of  the  Bible  is  to  make  us 
look  at  Jesus,  416-418. 

Maclaren,  Alexander.  The  Pattern- 
Man,   the   perfectly   good,    "  One   entire 


and  perfect  chrysolite,"  yet  calls  us 
brethren,  Sovereignty,  Lord  of  unseen 
world,  225. 

Magek,  William  Connor.  Gives  no  sense 
of  imperfection  in  himself,  no  prayer  for 
forgiveness,  556,  557. 

Magnanimity,  336 

Magoon,  Elisha  L.  Divinest  Theologian, 
Teacher  and  Example,  pre-existent,  151, 
152. 

Majesty,  113.  Luther,  17S,  187,  248.  Seen 
by  personal  surroundings,  291,  303,  314, 
328,  341.     Answer  to  Herod,  419. 

Malachi,  606. 

Malchus,  577. 

Malefactor  on  Cross.     Simessness,  32. 

Manliness  of  Christ,  Brooks,  431.  See 
Humanity,  Courage,  etc. 

"  Manliness  of  Christ,"  Hughes,  174. 

Man  of  Sorrows,  536,  581. 

"Many  Infallible  Proofs,"  Pierson,  404. 

Marcus  Aurelius  Antoninus,  Preface,  226, 
632. 

Mark.  Messiah,  Son  of  God,  Voice  from 
Father,  Dove,  the  Spirit  attests,  blessed 
children,  20,  450. 

Martensen,  H.\ns  Lassen.  Christ  even 
as  man  must  be  made  unlike  us,  Schleier- 
macher's  test,  "great  men  are  influen- 
tial," applied  to  Christ,  the  influence 
of  personality  on  Church,  State,  or  reli- 
gious society,  Socrates  intensively  but 
not  extensively,  "he  shall  be  called 
great,"  makes  a  kingdom  of  sanctified 
personalities,  the  stamp  of  eternity, 
Ecce  Homo,  the  universal  man,  559-565, 
Preface. 

Martha,  18,  651. 

M  artineau,  James.  Moral  and  Devotional 
blended  in  the  Son  of  Man  and  Son  of 
God,  Completeness,  we  fall  into  the  dis- 
ciples' place,  the  marvellous  life  and  har- 
mony of  a  nature  in  perfect  i)eace,  his 
picture  of  kingdom  of  heaven  uncon 
sciously  reflects  himself,  the  wholeness  of 
a  balanced  nature,  341,  342.  Christ  gives 
us  the  Spirit  of  God,  the  universe  his  scale, 
the  Prophet  of  Nazareth,  our  prayer  to 
walk  as  children  of  such  light,  382.  God 
has  made  one  sun,  and  one  Divine  Soul, 
Christ  makes  a  common  spiritual  type, 
434.  "  Nothing  evolved  but  the  involved," 
510,  Preface. 

Murtyn,  Henry,  337. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


709 


Martyrs  died  for  liim,  85. 

Mary  Magdalene,  662. 

Mary,  Mother,  20,  47,  3S0,  670. 

Mary  of  Bethany,  224,  454,  651. 

Mason,  Arihur  James.  Unity  of  his 
person,  an  actual  life  exhibiting  the  mind 
of  God,  603,  604. 

Mason,  Edward  B.  Beauty  to  appreciate, 
we  appreciate  according  to  receptivity. 
Teacher,  Healer,  Wisdom,  unaccounta- 
ble, a  great  light  shining  in  darkness, 
669-67 1 . 

Masonic,  602. 

Massii.lon,  Jean  Baptiste.  Benefactor, 
Divinity,  Transformer  of  World,  45. 

Master,  638.     See  Lord. 

Matheson,  George.  Gospel  portraits, 
boundlessly  tolerant,  spirituality,  regal 
authority  lies  with  the  people,  king  of  the 
heart,  conquered  the  world's  heart,  sub- 
jugated men  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself, 
succeeded  in  his  aim,  the  loyalty  of  souls, 
the  vision  of  a  beautiful  life,  his  religion  a 
faith  and  delight  in  him,  396-402,  Preface. 

Matthew.  Taught  with  authority,  com- 
passionate, Miracle-Worker,  Healer,  went 
about,  20,  291,  379,  450,  502,  672, 

Mediator,  Hodge,  142. 

"  Meditations  on  Christianity,"  Guizot,  65. 

Meekness,  Scougal,  78 ;  Edwards,  78,  80, 
83, 85,  97, 99,  loi.  "  Brings  rest,"  Walker, 
139;  and  Majesty,  167,  178,  248,  295,  303, 
3 [4;  and  Grandeur,  330.  336,  34 r,  377,  4S5, 
533,  602,  668.     See  Humility,  etc. 

Melchizedek,  365,  609. 

"Mental  Characteristics  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,"'  Bernard,  6ti. 

Meredith,  Preface. 

Messiah,  Jesus,  14,  15,  16;  Matthew,  20; 
Mark,  20;  John,  23;  Peter,  23,  24;  Simeon, 
29,81,  97,  III,  114,  126,  128,  137,  184,  270, 
294.  330.  "Great  qualities  necessary," 
Hopkins,  329.  "The  secret  of  man  is  the 
secret  of  the  Messiah,"  Jewish  proverb, 
351,  483,  592.  "Anomted  One,"  "the 
expected  of  thirty  centuries,"  606,  625,  633, 
666. 

"  Messiah,"  Handel,  452,  596. 

**  Method  and  Secret  of  Jesus,"  M.  Arnold, 
642. 

Michael  Angelo,  327,  528. 

"  Microcosmus,"  Lotze. 

Mill,  John  Stuart.  A  divine  personage, 
and  model,  available  even  for  unbeliever, 


Christ  rather  than  God  the  Christian's 
pattern.  God  incarnate,  "great  and  salu- 
tary hold,  "  unique  figure,  unlike  his  pre- 
cursor, John,  and  followers,  original, 
sublime  genius,  ideal  representative  and 
guide  of  humanity,  the  abstract  become 
concrete,  living  so  Christ  would  approve 
a  rule  of  virtue,  324,  39.S,  593. 

MiLMAN,  Henry  Hart.  His  moral  dif- 
ference from  his  age,  universal  morality, 
God  the  Father,  Brotherhood,  Son  of 
God,  Character,  Beauty,  Superhuman, 
Knowledge  of  Men,  Love,  Wisdom,  138- 
140. 

Miltiades,  371,  611. 

Milton,  John,  206,  294,  349,  352,  371,  430, 
4S9,  528,  565,  667. 

Minerva,  207. 

Miracles,  Jesus,  13,  17,  20;  Matthew,  20; 
Mark,  21 ;  Nicodemus,  31  ;  Augustine,  34; 
Peter,  23,  Lord  Bacon, 40;  Celsus,  Julian, 
Volusian  (Chateaubriand),  63 ;  Guizot,  66, 
77.  "  Never  used  for  himself,"  82.  Acts  of 
compassion,  84 ;  Napoleon,  88 ;  Chal- 
mers, 95,  97.  ].ess  than  his  character,  98. 
Christ's  character  "the  Miracle,"  iii; 
Olshausen,  116;  Pressens^,  117,  Seeley, 
199.  No  deception,  266.  Himself  the 
miracle,  267,  276,  288.  "  Person  of  Christ," 
Schaff,  271.  None  by  John  Baptist,  but 
by  Christ,  284.  Do  not  awake  surprise 
or  comment  of  Evangelists,  356,  592. 
Jesus  the  Miracle,  Gannett,  378. 

"Miraculous  Element  in  Gospels,"  Bruce, 
4S0. 

Mitford,  549. 

Mithra,  256. 

Model,  318,  362.     See  Imitation,  Example. 

"  Modern  Infidelity,"  Christlieb,  256. 

"Modern  Scepticism,"  Browne,  300. 

"  Modern  Scepticism,"  Cook,  3S9. 

Mohammed,  Mohammedanism,  Preface;  and 
Christ  compared,  102,  103,  127,  158,  161, 
compared,  177,  245,  246,  249,  and  Chris- 
tianity, 274,  275,  292,  294,  316,  354,  and 
Christ,  43S,  443,  45 r,  457,  485,  496,  529, 
540,  601,  645. 

Moliere,  529. 

"Monday  Club  Sermons,"  Grifiis,  678; 
Mason,  669;  Sperry,  672. 

Monophysites,  377. 

Montesquieu,  "  The  Church  shows  the 
prodigies  of  the  Christian  religion,'  540, 
541. 


7IO 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


MooRHOUSE,  J.  Greatness,  analyzed,  har- 
monious development,  revelation  of  God, 

163. 

"  Moral  Argument  for  the  Gospels,"  Beard, 
III. 

Morals,  system  best,  Franklin,  60 ;  Paley, 
62.  System,  Chateaubriand,  63.  Moral- 
ity the  purest,  Napoleon,  88.  Different 
from  his  age,  Milman,  139,  268.  "  Rule 
of  virtue  to  live  so  Christ  would  approve 
our  life,"  J.  S.  Mill,  325.  Moral  science, 
simplifies,  generalizes,  divides  as  by 
geographical  circles,  map  of  duty,  rests 
life  on  principles  as  in  Golden  Rule,  311. 
Moral  model  the  highest  conceivable 
attainment,  higher  than  all  artists,  327. 

Moses,  13,  22.  Christ  his  similar,  Spinoza, 
43,  60.  And  Christ  compared,  Ritschl, 
102,  103,  145,  149.  173.  249.  321-  Juris- 
prudence, 365,477,  491,  513,  533,  554,  581, 
606,  617,  657. 

Mozart,  561. 

MozooMUAR,  Protap  Chunder.  His 
voice  a  song  of  glory,  his  sentences  vis- 
ions of  heaven,  what  he  touches  he  puri- 
fies, his  every  word  a  revelation,  the 
sweet  Jesus  of  the  Galilasan  lake,  an 
Eastern  Christ  the  incarnation  of  love 
and  grace,  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Christ,  441-444,  Preface. 

MuiR,  Sir  William.  Mohammedans  say, 
Seyeddna  Eesa,  our  Lord  Jesus  "  on 
whom  be  peace,"  275. 

Mui.FORD,  Elisha.  Person  of  Christ, 
perfect  righteousness,  not  only  sinless  but 
positive,  ethical  quality,  and  in  perfect 
unity  with  man,  "  a  real  conflict  and  a 
real  victory,"  445. 

Miiller,  Johann,  What  is  world's  history 
without  Christ?  135,  Preface. 

MiJLLER,  Julius.  Gospels  cannot  be  myth 
nor  a  lie.  Redeemer  of  the  world,  217, 
218. 

Munt-er,  Theodore  T.  A  new  century  of 
truth  and  inspiration,  not  accept  my  sys- 
tem but  accept  me,  Truth  enters  society 
by  person,  through  love,  Revelation  by  a 
person,  only  by  person  can  man  be  deliv- 
ered, not  ideas  but  persons  arc  the  world's 
salvation,  an  inspiration  through  hnalty 
and  love,  456-464,  Preface. 

MuuPiiY,  Joseph  John.  Christ's  origin- 
ality in  nsc  of  old  truths,  invented  new 
tyjje  of    moral  excellence.  King  through 


truth,  new  motive  power  in  morals,  165, 

166. 
"  My  Religion,"  Tolstoi,  621. 
"  Mystery  of  Matter,"  Picton,  Preface,  265. 

Naaman,  678. 

Najjoleon,  compares  himself  with  Christ,  89, 
253.  346,  370,  371.  404.  612,  620. 

"Natal  Sermons,"  Colenso,  598. 

"  National  Subjects,"  Kingsley,  202. 

"  Natural  Sources  of  Theology,"  T.  Hill, 
504. 

"Nature  and  Supernatural,"  Bushnell,   219. 

"  Nature  shines  in  his  spirit,"  Lange,  162. 

Naville,  Ernest.  Love  of  Christ  makes 
you  a  grain  of  salt,  ray  of  light,  world 
crucified  but  follows  him,  Socrates,  128, 
1 29. 

Neander,  Johann  August  \Vilhelm. 
Originator  of  Germanic  culture  and  intel- 
lectual life,  developed  in  Reformation, 
root  of  modern  civilization.  Son  of  God, 
Image  of  God,  Humanity,  ideal  and 
phenomenal  never  contradict,  teaches 
necessary  laws  of  our  being,  91,  92, 
Preface. 

Neighbor,  Christ's  interpretation,  319. 

Nestorians,  377. 

Newcome,  William.  Lord,  Teacher, 
Teacher  of  Immortality,  sent  by  Father 
as  Instructor,  Redeemer,  Judge,  King, 
Benevolence,  supernatural  truth,  sublime, 
knowledge  of  men,  wisdom,  jiarables, 
sinlessness,  humility,  courage,  fortitude, 
patience,  obedience,  omniscience,  char- 
acter could  not  have  been  invented, 
enjoins  prayer  in  his  name,  56.  Image  of 
God,  59,  Preface. 

"  New  Life  of  Jesus,"  Strauss,  36S. 

Newman,  Francis,  compared  Fletcher  of 
Madeley  with  Christ,  61 1. 

"  New  Theology,"  Clarke,  J.  F.,  393. 

Newton,  Isaac,  242,  294,  302,  t,'^'j.  ChiUl  on 
shore,  474,  523,  530,  601.  "Takes  a 
Newton  to  forge  a  Newton,"  655,  669. 

NICODEMI'S,  Teacher  from  Gotl,  Prc-c::ist- 
ence.  Miracle- Worker,  31. 

Nicodemus,  55.     His  "crucifix,"  377,  454. 

NicoLL,  W.  R.  The  problem  of  this  age, 
the  standard  of  the  ages.  Teacher, 
Prophet,  Example,  140. 

Nirvana,  292,  645. 

No  consciousness  of  sin,  614.  Sec  Con- 
sciousness, Self-  Consciousness. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


711 


Northmen,  valor,  2S2. 

Norton,  Andrews.  Taught  the  essen- 
tials, Wisdom,  Saviour,  Divinity  of  his 
mission,  176,  177.  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, "  most  wonderful  individual,"  a 
Jew,  humble  yet  unparalleled  effect, 
moral  civilization  of  the  world,  not  a 
school  of  philosophy,  but  of  people  to 
whom  he  was  Saviour  and  Son  of  God, 
character  consistent  and  wonderful, 
unparalleled,  unalterable  elevation,  not 
degraded  by  insult,  the  unperverted  fol- 
low him,  the  portraiture  of  his  character, 
322-324,  Preface. 

Obedience,  58,  66;  and  order,  Barrow,  71, 
113,126,320.  Service,  336.  Yet  freedom, 
34S,  362,  435,  522  ;  and  submission,  5S6. 

Oberlin,  337. 

Olshausen,  Hermann.  Prophet,  King, 
unsurpassed  in  speech,  miracles,  king- 
dom of  God,  active  and  passive  virtues. 
Gentleness,  Patience,  Christ  the  Truth, 
not  truth-seeker,  unity  and  combination 
of  virtue,  116,  117. 

Omnipotence,  Jesus,  15,  iS.  John,  22. 
John  Baptist,  29.     Grotius,  39 ;  66,  7S,  S3, 

"5- 

Omniscience,  Jesus,  15,  30.  58,  98. 

"One  Religion,  The,"  Wordsworth,  506. 

OosTERZEE,  John  Jacob  Van.  Sinless- 
ness,  Lord,  Image  of  the  Father,  Divinity, 
Humanity,  not  only  speaks  the  truth,  but 
is  the  Truth,  voluntarily  laid  down  his 
life.  Son  of  God,  Physician  of  souls.  Re- 
deemer (Rothe),  never  /earns  (Rothe), 
God's  highest  revelation,  iiS,  119. 

Orations  and  Essays,  Diman,  146. 

Orations  and  Sjieeches,  Everett,  191. 

"  Oriental  Christ,"  Protap  Chunder  Mo- 
zoomdar,  441. 

Origkn.  Son  of  God,  Image.  Image  of  his 
goodness.  Saviour,  35. 

Originality,  Napoleon,  87,  98,  165,  1S3,  187, 
222,  236.  "  Never  attempted  to  trace  to 
a  foregoing  exemplar,"  237,  261.  "In- 
comparable originality,"  Coquerel,  26r, 
301,  324.  Of  his  model  of  moral  excel- 
lence, 327,  371.  The  loftiest  specimen, 
471.  In  use  of  old  truths,  507  ;  and 
beauty  of  character,  511,  664. 

"Originality  of  Jesus,"  Clarke,  J.  F.,  470. 

"Originality  of  the- character  of  Christ," 
Matheson,  396. 


Othello,  207. 

"  Our  Father,"  544.     See  Lord's  Prayer. 

"  Our  Lord's  Life  on  Earth,"  Hanna,  86. 

"Outlines  of  Theology,"  Vinet,  125. 

"  Oxford  Sermons,"  Edwin  A.  Abbott,  320. 

Paine,  Thomas.  "  Age  of  Reason,"  virtu- 
ous and  amiable  man.  Teacher  of  morals, 
not  e.xceeded,  52. 

Painting,  Angelico  wept  because  he  could 
not  reproduce,  527.     Leonardo,  528. 

Paley,  William.  Sober  in  prayer,  ad- 
mirable discourses,  submissive  to  death. 
Resignation,  practicable,  commends  not 
asceticism,  not  impostor,  nor  enthusiast, 
morality  above  reason,  above  philoso- 
phers, system  of  morals,  6r,  62,  616, 
617. 

Palfrey,  Cazneau.  "  A  complete  portrait 
of  an  absolutely  perfect  life,"  that  asser- 
tion examined,  his  Person  shown  first  by 
a  church,  then  by  a  book,  most  intense 
personality,  no  one  ever  spoke  with  such 
power,  his  Spirit  in  the  whole  enables  us 
to  judge  of  parts,  465-469,  Preface. 

Palprey,  John  Gorham.  Evangelists 
honest,  and  simple.  Master,  record  their 
own  faults,  incapable  of  conceiving  such 
a  character,  227-233,  Preface. 

Panffitius,  655. 

Parables,  Priestly,  53,  57.  Ranke,  76,  166, 
285,  307.  "  Seized  the  imagination  of 
mankind,"  446.  "  None  in  John's  Gos- 
pel," 450.  Compare  Arnold's  poems,  454, 
456,  525.  "Metaphors  the  colors  of  the 
spectrum,"  601.  "A  child  can  under- 
stand," 602. 

"  Paradise  Lost,"  207. 

"  Paradise  Regained,"  667. 

Paris,  284. 

Park,  Edwards  A.  Christ  as  the  work- 
manship of  the  Divine  Mind,  557,  558. 

Parker,  Joseph.  Recognized  the  gieat- 
ness  of  human  nature.  Son  of  God,  his 
life  the  world's  great  influence,  234,  235, 
Preface. 

Parker,  Theodore.  Character  estimated 
and  studied,  a  young  man  unlike  Socrates, 
venerable  beauty,  humanity,  poem,  "Je- 
sus, there  is  no  dearer  name  than  thine," 
greatest  soul  of  all  the  sons  of  men,  a 
genius  of  religion,  love,  "onlv  a  Jesus 
could  have  fabricated  a  Jesus,"  239-242. 
"  If    I'lato    did   not   write    Phaedo,   must 


712 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


have  been  two  Platos,"  the  inventor 
must  have  equalled  the  invention,  655, 
Preface. 

Parthenon,  239,  566. 

Pascal,  Blaise.  Centre,  Reason,  King, 
41. 

Pascal,  253.  "Suns  and  stars  equal  not 
man,"  471,  528. 

Patience,  Polycarp,  35.  Even  with  Judas, 
Cyprian,  36,  78.  Grotius,  39.  Pascal,  42, 
58,  80,  82,  83,  86,  117,  123,  167,  250,  295, 
300,  31S,  320,  443,  533. 

Patriotism,  656. 

Patripassians,  377. 

Paul.  Lord,  Messiah,  Ransom,  Vicarious 
Sufferer,  Foundation,  Resurrection,  Rich 
became  Poor,  Pre-existent,  Son  of  God, 
Divine,  25.  Infinite,  26.  Ordainer  of 
Church,  apostles,  prophets,  etc.,  perfect 
Man,  has  name  above  every  name,  to  be 
worshipped.  Head  of  Church,  27.  "  Un- 
searchable riches  of  Christ,"  371. 

Paul,  218,  253,  268.    Centre  was  Christ,  2S8, 

339.  340,  348.  352.  367,  371,  372,  3S6,  39S, 
404,  430,  447.  And  Barnabas,  473,  474, 
488,  523,  548,  556,  557.  And  Gamaliel,  con- 
trast of  influence,  567,  611,  612,  619,  668. 

Peabody,  Andrew  Preston.  Character 
stands  unique  in  history,  harmony  of  con- 
trasts, a  walk  with  God  yet  walk  with 
man,  the  greatest,  wisest,  and  best  approve 
his  character,  wins  universal  recognition, 
a  Jew  but  not  Judaistic,  belongs  to  all 
ages,  "has  no  secular  paralla.x,"  beautiful 
to  the  ignorant  and  to  Fenelon,  not  a  star 
but  a  sun,  336,  y^-j.  "  Baccalaureate  Ser- 
mons," Christ  is  his  religion,  his  life-story 
like  the  works  of  creation,  the  greatest 
force  in  human  history,  "  Thou  alone  art 
worthy,"  "  The  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and 
forever,"  571-574,  Preface. 

Peahody,  Ephraim.  Perfect  humanity. 
Image  of  God,  "  one  perfect  character 
shines  like  star  over  dark  seas,"  Example, 
Character  of  Christ  more  important  to 
study  than  his  nature,  "  the  character  of 
heaven,"  "connected  with  our  highest 
happiness  and  holiest  hope  of  heaven," 
Cross,  258-260. 

Perfection,  "  blinds  to  his  excellence," 
Jacob  Al)bott,  129.  Hard  to  grasp,  14S, 
175.  T^ifficult  to  study,  iSi.  Of  charac- 
ter, 187,  2 so.  "  Perfect  but  imitablc,  ideal 
but  possible,"  Coqueiel,  264,  309,  319,  320, 


378.     "Perfect  and  alone,"  390.      "Per- 
fect life,"  C banning,  405,  410.    Of  fulness, 

473- 

Pericles,  383. 

"Permanent  and  Transient  in  Christianity," 
Strauss,  286. 

Perowne,  E.  H.  Calmness,  Prophet,  Sin- 
lessness.  Knowledge  of  men,  Compassion, 
not  like  Ajax  but  Jacob's  ladder.  Virtues 
combined,  144-146. 

Person,  Personality,  "  positive,"  98,  256. 
Grows  even  when  miracles  are  denied, 
271.  "The  centre  of  religious  contro- 
versy," 276,  317,  369.  Beecher,  385,  389, 
401,  409,  418.  Christ  is  Christianity,  440. 
"  Only  Person  can  deliver,"  459,  461,  467, 
475.  Person  and  truth  woven  together 
make  him  the  Teacher,  4S5,  528.  The 
power  of  Christianity,  613. 

"  Person  of  Christ,"  Schaff,  344. 

Peter,  14.  Foundation,  Salvation,  Teacher 
of  eternal  truth.  Holy  One  of  God,  mir- 
acles in  his  name,  Messiah,  Crucified,  23. 
Resurrection,  Judge,  sinless,  suffered  for 
sins,  prophets  witness,  13,  24. 

Peter,  "  words  of  eternal  life,"  Ranke,  76, 
145,  166,  216,  228,  291.  318,  338,  347,  3S6, 
404,  460,  479,  567,  611,  668. 

Pharisees,  54,  55,  loi,  187,  231,  257,  285. 
Denunciations,  672,  679. 

Phidias,  3S1,  52S. 

Philanthropy,  274,  304,  378. 

Philip  and  N.vthanael.  Prophet,  Rabbi, 
Son  of  God,  King  of  Israel,  30,  291. 

Philosophers,  503.  See  their  individual 
names. 

"  Philosophy  of  History,"  Hegel,  64. 

"  Philosophy  of  the  Plan  of  Salvation," 
J.  B.  Walker,  137. 

Physician  of  Souls,  119,  470. 

PiCTON,  J.  Allanson.  Marcus  Antoninus 
never  saved  the  world  by  sacrifice  of  him- 
self, that  puts  Christ  beyond  rivalry,  felt 
the  Father  indwelling,  viewed  all  things 
in  light  of  God,  265,  266,  Preface. 

Pierson,  Arthur  T.  No  limit  of  indi- 
viduality, yet  jjositiveness,  a  response  in 
all  kinds  of  men,  sympathizing  Brother, 
ideal  manhood,  no  portrait  does  justice, 
art  or  moral,  left  all  ideals  behind,  his  life 
the  pivot  of  history,  sways  the  world,  we 
date  our  letters  AD.,  "  lordshij)  of  the 
world's  calendar,"  as  thouiih  all  history 
had  a  new  birth  then,  his  mind  and  char- 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


m 


acter  the  great  good,  the  character  of 
Jesus  the  great  impulse,  inspires  affection 
as  if  present,  a  fame  unparalleled,  his 
character  the  efficiency  of  Christianity, 
Jesus  the  life  of  his  religion,  his  precepts 
vital  by  his  life,  404. 

Pilate.     Sinlessness,  "I  find  no  fault,"  31. 

Pilate,  14,  19.  "Behold  the  man,"  146,  215, 
221,  234,  238,  248,  252,  336,  364,  391,  440, 
507.     Testimony,  614,  667. 

Pilate's  Wife.  Sinlessness,  supernatu- 
ral, "a  dream  this  night,"  32. 

Pilate's  wife,  215,  23S,  291. 

PiNNocK,  W.  H.  Messiah,  Love  for  his 
Church,  Head  of  the  Church,  Resurrec- 
tion, 141. 

Pious,  Porphyry  (Chateaubriand),  63. 

Pitt,  William. 

Plato,  imagined  man,  Rousseau,  47  ;  on  Soc- 
rates, 54,  56,  136,  158,  221,  226,  242,  249, 
253,  267,  269,  284,  292,  322,  326,  354. 
Utopia,  381,  385,  412,  474,  495,  523,  525, 
52S,  530,  593.  594.  605,  611,  655,  657. 

"  Plan  of  Founder  of  Christianity,"  Rein- 
hard,  194. 

Platonists,  554,  613. 

Pliny,  witness  to  innocence  of  Christians, 
63,  209. 

Plotinus,  546. 

Plumptre,  Edward  Haves.  Source  of 
Church's  teaching,  benevolent,  "marvel- 
lous personality,  stamped  on  the  world's 
history,  we  must  accept  his  claims,"  236, 
237,  Preface. 

PoLVCARP.  Saviour,  sinlessness.  Patience, 
Example,  Righteousness,  35. 

Pompey,  610. 

Pontiff,  Bossuet,  43. 

Poor,  poverty,  Edward  Everett,  192.  "Gos- 
pel to  poor,"  226,  293,  305,  346,  3S6;  and 
lowly,  427,  487 ;  and  hardship,  636,  653, 
657,  667. 

Pope,  Alexander,  540. 

Porphyry,  63,  209. 

PoRTEous,  Beilby.  Founder  of  Christian- 
ity, most  extraordinary  Personage  of  the 
world.  Teacher,  Resurrection,  Ascension, 
his  work  unparalleled,  the  conversion  of 
the  world,  commissioned  from  heaven. 
Wisdom,  Omnipotence,  Goodness,  Gen- 
tleness, Holiness,  Compassion,  Self-Com- 
mand, Patience,  Meekness,  Moral  Purity, 
not  indebted  to  books  or  education,  Son 
of  God,  Gospel,  83,  84. 


Porter,  Noah.  "Boston  Lectures,"  his 
character  no  invention,  parables,  Good 
Samaritan,  Teacher,  166,  167. 

Portraiture  of  Christ  (art),  349,  356,  377, 
383-385,  3S6,  "none  does  justice,"  405. 

Portraiture  (moral),  397,  401,  405.  "The 
utmost  effect  with  smallest  material," 
Wright,  511,  664,  658. 

Positivists,  Preface,  597. 

Post,  Truman.  "A  new  and  wonderful 
moral  power  in  history,"  reformative  en- 
ergy, moral  life-power,  no  mould  of  age, 
vision  of  the  personal  God  in  Christ,  with 
transfiguring  charm,  287,  288. 

Practicability  of  Christ's  teaching,  Paley,  61. 

Prayer,  his  delight  in,  77.  For  murderers  on 
the  cross,  322,  367 ;  shortest,  472.  "  Lord's 
Prayer,"  524.     Prayerfulness,  586. 

Preacher  and  Teacher,  40. 

Pre-e.xistence,  Jesus,  17,  18;  John,  22;  Paul, 
25;  John  Baptist,  28;  Nicodemus,  31, 
152. 

Pressens^,  Edmond  de.  Compared  with 
Socrates  and  Isaiah,  himself  the  Truth, 
Gentle  yet  Powerful,  Divine  Virtue,  mira- 
cles, "his  greatest  miracle  the  restoration 
by  love  of  the  human  race,"  "  Divine 
Love  personified,"  117,  118.  Type  of 
perfection,  not  like  ascetics  of  India  or 
Mohammedans,  Saviour,  the  Fifth  Gospel 
the  work  of  Christ  in  the  world,  160-162. 

Priestly,  Joseph.  Compared  with  Socra- 
tes, Teacher,  authoritative,  didactic,  para- 
bolic, Bfnevolence,  Sinlessness,  Human- 
ity, 52-56. 

Prince  of  life,  345. 

"  Progress  of  Doctrine  in  New  Testament," 
Bernard,  154. 

Prophets,  Prophecy,  13,  24,  30,  38,  116,  120, 
144. 

Prctevangel,  290. 

Prudence,  58,  80,  99,  167. 

"  Pseudo-Matthew,"  290. 

"  Public    Ministrj-   of    our   Lord,"    Blaikie, 

473- 
Publius  Lentulus,  "  Description  of  Christ," 

384. 

PuNSHO.N,  WiLLiA.M  MoRLEY.  Lawgiver, 
174. 

Putnam,  George.  "  Was  and  was  to  con- 
tinue Head-centre,  Master,  Lord,  King, 
Captain,  in  supremacy  and  religion,"  Son 
of  God,  inspired  to  teach  true  religion, 
must  permanently  triumph,  the  eminent 


7H 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


men  not  scoffers,  theological  obscurations 
removed  he  stands  simple  and  beautiful, 

339.  340. 
Pyramids,  593. 
Pythagoras,  316. 

Quakers,  Paine,  52.  • 

QuARTERiA'  Review.  Established  a  king- 
dom not  of  earth  but  of  heaven,  a  King 
in  humility,  inverted  all  expectations  of 
his  disciples,  they  do  not  declare  but 
picture  him,  holiness,  union  and  vk'orking 
with  God,  after  all  criticism  will  remain 
admiration  for  his  moral  character,  image 
of  God's  perfection  in  Palestine,  269-272. 

Queen  of  Sheba,  655. 

"Quiet  Resting- Places,"  Raleigh,  296. 

QuiNET,  Edgar.  Gospel  apotheosizes  per- 
sonality, not  nature,  the  dominion  of  a 
soul  greater  than  universe,  the  miracle  of 
the  gospel,  the  infinite  soul  of  Christ, 
infinity,  Christianity  has  consecrated  the 
individual,  God-made  man,  103,  104. 

Rabbi,  Jesus  called  by  disciples,  16;  by 
Philip  and  Nathanael,  30, 

Rabbinic  Schools,  497. 

Racine,  528. 

Raleigh,  Alexander.  Whatever  he 
touches  glorified,  Behold  the  Man,  toil, 
travel,  suffering,  cross,  296. 

Raleigh,  Walter,  605. 

Ranke,  Leopold.  Humility,  Healer,  Para- 
bles, Teacher,  Sublimity,  Holy,  Spirit  of 
God,  Eternal  Life  in  his  words,  Human- 
ity, 76. 

Ransom,  Jesus,  15. 

Raphael,  68,  349,  561. 

"  Reality  of  Faith,"  N.  Smyth,  452. 

Reason,  Jesus,  Pascal,  41.  Absolute,  Fichte, 
63.  Absolute  Truth,  Hegel,  64;  Uarrow, 
68. 

"  Reason,  Faith,  and  Duty,"  J.  Walker,  235. 

Redeemer,  Hacon,  40;  Bossuet,  43,  56, foil, 
63,  85,  iig;  Tholuck,  124,  214,  251,  256, 
277.  298,  331,  332,  444,  510,  563. 

Reformer,  140,  32 1,  324.  Supreme  moral 
Reformer,  358.  Greatest  social  Reformer, 
Abbott,  E.  A.,  425.  Great  practical  Re- 
former, 428. 

Regenerator,  Regencraticm,  Regeneration  of 
the  race,  345.  Regeneration  of  humanity, 
and  individual,  Cohbe,  358.  Lodged  in 
vivifying  power  of  Christ,  372.     Regen- 


eration and  exaltation  of  souls  his  ulti- 
mate aim,  406,  492. 

Reid,  John.  Simplicity  and  natural  free- 
dom, "  he  never  appears  strange  to  him- 
self," had  all  moral  traits,  does  not  change 
opinions.  Teacher,  Perfection,  hard  to 
grasp,  surprises  of  his  goodness,  147-149, 
Preface. 

Reinhard,  Francis  Volkmar.  His  refor- 
mation for  the  heart,  to  embrace  all  na- 
tions, "  a  new  moral  creation,"  ruled  from 
within  not  from  without,  his  religion  uni- 
versal, Benevolence,  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, Life,  asceticism  none,  but  joyous, 
gentle  though  greatest  of  Reformers, 
Divine,  194-196,  Preface. 

"  Religion,  Analogy  of,"  Butler,  431. 

"Religion  and  Christ,"  Guizot,  65. 

"  Religion  of  Christ,"  Leathes,  288. 

Religion  of  Christ  compared  with  religions 
of  the  world,  as  to  vitality,  Chadwick,  366. 
Other  religions  a  kingdom,  the  Christian 
religion  a  faith,  400. 

"  Religions  before  Christ,"  Pressense,  117. 

Renan,  Joseph  Er.nest.  Son  of  God, 
Founder  of  Religion,  his  perfect  idealism, 
King,  will  never  be  surpassed,  155,  156. 

Renan,  Joseph  Ernest,  197,  209,  251,  253, 
"Demi-god,"  271,  370,  419,  439,  483,  593, 
667,  Preface. 

"Republican  Christianity,"  Magoon,  151. 

"Republic  of  God,"  Mulford,  445. 

Reserve  truth  he  did  not  give  out,  474. 

Resignation,  Paley,  61,  99,  336. 

Respecter  of  authority  and  order,  58. 

"Re-statements  of  Christian  Doctrine,"  Bel- 
lows, 242. 

Resurrection,  Jesus,  16,  17,  18;  Peter,  24; 
"first-born,"  Paul,  26,  38;  Grotius,  39; 
Bacon,  40;  Locke,  76,  S3,  84,  141,  251, 
26S,  434,441,  505,  550,  594.  Resurrection 
of  his  life  as  exceptional  as  of  his  body, 
633.  "Not  a  fraud,"  "a  coarse  and 
clumsy  theory,"  615,  652,  661. 

Revelation,  interior,  as  food  becomes  living 
brain  and  nerve,  417. 

"  Revelation  of  God  and  man,"  etc..  Thorn, 
1 86. 

"  Revelation  of  the  risen  Christ,"  Wcscott, 
661. 

Riches,  Rich,  104,  386.-  Responsibility  to 
society,  426,  636,  653. 

Rinrri'-.R,  Jean  Paul.  "  The  holiest  among 
the  mighty,  and  the  mightiest  among  the 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


715 


hoh',"  etc.,  179.  "An  individual  wlio 
swayed  remote  ages  and  founded  an  eter- 
nity of  his  own."  Did  he  exist  .•'  there  is 
a  Providence,  "  the  holiest  among  the 
mighty,"  etc.,  369. 

RiGGKNBACH,  CHRISTOPII  JOHAN.NES.      Un- 

calculated  character,  simple  and  majes- 
tic, appeal  to  conscience,  knowledge  of 
men,  pitiful,  Evangelists  did  not  write 
fiction  but  history,  compares  Socrates, 
holy,  unparalleled,  Messiah,  sinlessness, 
wisdom,  divinity,  113-115,  Preface. 

RiTSCHL,  Alkrecht.  Founder  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  relation  to  his  religion,  him- 
self as  Redeemer  the  centre  of  it,  102, 103, 
Preface. 

Robertson,  Frederick  W.  Redeemer, 
sinlessness,  Pilate's  testimony  and  Pilate's 
wife,  John  Baptist,  Son  of  Man,  inwardly 
and  altogether  pure,  214-217,  Preface. 

Rock  of  Ages,  "  Eclect.  Rev.,"  277. 

Rogers,  Ebenezer  P.  The  name  Christian 
given  as  reproach,  has  made  itself  an 
honor,  sympathy,  421-424,  Preface. 

Rogers,  Henry.  Gospels  must  cease  to 
exist  before  infidelity  can  succeed,  the 
tributes  of  the  heart.  Son  of  Man,  Son  of 
God,  233-235,  Preface. 

Roman  Centurion,  Sinlessness,  32,  671. 

Rothe,  "never  learns,"  119. 

Rousseau,  Jean  Jacques.  Sacred  Per- 
sonage, sublime,  pure,  and  simple,  self- 
control,  Plato's  imaginary  righteous  man, 
Wisdom,  Death,  his  Gospel  no  fiction, 
47,  48.  Inconceivable  that  the  Gospels 
should  have  been  invented,  the  history  of 
Socrates  not  so  well  attested  as  that  of 
Christ,  655,  Preface. 

Rousseau  impracticable,  Paley,  6r,  370,655. 

RoussEL,  Napoleon.  Veracity  his  teach- 
ing and  practice,  said  he  was  Son  of  God, 
lives  easily  in  a  superior  world,  "'heaven 
his  country,  holiness  his  nature,  eternity 
his  life,"  Son  of  God,  his  glow  of  life 
communicates,  his  work  affects  the  soul, 
three  hundred  millions  acknowledge  gift 
of  Holy  Spirit,  251-255,  Preface. 

Row,  Charles  Adolphus.  Not  a  product 
of  human  forces,  but  superhuman  power. 
Why  have  not  others  e.xcited  impassioned 
love  to  themselves  ?  none  of  the  sages, 
avoided  political  and  social  legislation 
which  is  destructive  to  Mohammedanism, 
had  he  aimed  at  external,  political,  social, 


Christianity  would  not  have  lived  a  cen- 
tury, 353-356,  Preface. 

Rubens,  349. 

RusKiN,  John.  The  believers  who  had 
Christ,  had  all.  Fortitude,  Holiness,  Lib- 
erty, 455,  456. 

Rush,  Dr.,  Letter  from  Jefferson,  50. 

Rutherford,  heart  enlarged  as  big  as  heaven 
to  hold  Christ,  470. 

Sabbath  made  for  man,  523. 

Sacrifice  for  sin.  Bacon,  40;  Hodge,  143. 
See  Cross,  etc. 

Sadducees,  257,  672,  673,  674. 

Sakya  Mouni,  2S6,  291.  See  BiidJhu,  Gau- 
hi  ma. 

Samaritans,  22.  Omniscience,  30.  Saviour, 
30.     Woman,  150,  22S. 

"Sartor  Resartus,"  Carlyle,  169. 

Satisfaction,  Leighton,  59. 

Saviour,  Salvation,  Peter,  23 ;  Paul,  27 ; 
Hebrews,  28 ;  Simeon,  29  ;  John  Baptist, 
29;  Samaritans,  30;  Clement  of  Alexan- 
dria, 33;  Clement  of  Rome,  33;  Polycarp, 
35;  Origen,  35;  Bacon,  40,43,  44;  Shak- 
speare,  48,  64,  68,  72,  79,  81,  85;  Chal- 
mers, 95,  105,  III,  124,  136,  146,  168,  176, 
251,  258,  261,  278,  289,  329.  "Little  col- 
ored girl  singing,"  Fumess,  363,  411,  414, 
469,  505,  559,  591,  597,  613.  625,  647. 
Subordination  of  all  his  gifts,  668. 

Scandinavian  god  outrun  (by  thought),  59S. 

Schaeffer,  Ary,  668. 

Schaff,  Philip.  Christ  not  school-trained, 
nor  "self-made,"  his  alleged  contact  with 
Egyptians  or  Essenes  explains  nothing, 
quotes  only  Old  Testament,  in  religion 
original  and  independent,  he  is  the  Truth, 
never  became  an  old  man,  an  uncommon  ' 
personage  with  astounding  claims,  great, 
but  unostentatious,  conquered  more  than 
all  conquerors,  gave  more  light  than  all 
science,  eloquent,  set  many  pens  in  motion, 
rules  one-third  of  the  globe,  rises  like  the 
Pyramids,  finds  disciples  everywhere, 
balanced  equilibrium,  never  needed  re- 
adjustment, of  no  particular  temperament, 
obedient  yet  free,  above  the  world  yet 
mingling  with  it,  his  virtue  healthy,  manly, 
vigorous,  never  repellant,  grows  on  closer 
inspection,  no  parallel  in  history  or  fiction, 
no  biographer,  moralist,  or  artist  satisfied 
with  his  reproduction,  rises  above  all  pro- 
portions of  humanity,  too  great  to  have 


7i6 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


been  invented,  meets  our  souls'  wants,  we 
are  elevated  by  contemplating  Christ, 
with  him,  history  is  a  harmonious  revela- 
tion of  God,  glory  of  past,  life  of  present, 
hope  of  future,  we  cannot  understand 
ourselves  without  him,  "  The  secret  of 
man  is  the  secret  of  the  Messiah,"  Light 
of  history  and  of  the  soul,  344-351, 
Preface.  "  Person  of  Christ  the  miracle 
of  history,"  271. 

Schelling,  Christ  "  symbol  of  union  of  di- 
vine and  human,"  294. 

ScHENKKL,  Daniel.  Champion  of  many, 
friend  of  poor,  Deliverer  going  to  meet 
death,  name  shines  like  a  star,  104.  "  His- 
tory has  produced  no  parallel,"  "  lives 
forever  in  souls,"  271. 

Schiller,  1554. 

ScHMiD,  C.  F.  ("Biblical  Theology  of  the 
New  Testament").  His  teaching  only  an 
initiation  into  himself,  the  essence  of 
Christianity,  Peter  declares  sinless  and 
perfect,  Model,  Pattern,  317,  31 8. 

"Scotch  Sermons,"  Cunningham,  265. 

Scott,  Walter,  498,  652,  654.  "  Waverley," 
"Guy  Mannering,"  671. 

ScoUGAL,  Henry.  Saviour,  Example, 
Holy,  Goodness,  Love  to  God,  Prayer, 
Benevolence,  Miracles,  Omnipresence, 
Meekness,  Patience  with  Judas,  77,  78, 
Preface. 

Schleiermacher,  a  "great  man  moulds  so- 
ciety," 559,  562. 

"Scientific  Basis  of  Faith,"  Murphy,  165. 

"Scripture  Testimony  to  Messiah,"  Smith, 
J.  P.,  99- 

Sea,  Christ's  teaching  a  great  sea,  Augus- 
tine, 34. 

Seaks,  Edmund  H.  "  More  of  a  man  than 
any  other  in  history,"  humanity  com])lcte 
in  compass,  union,  Egoism  stupendous, 
but  more  than  man,  not  the  abnegation 
of  a  sage,  we  are  not  shocked  because  a 
biography  like  no  other,  try  to  fit  his 
self-assertion  to  any  of  the  sages,  325, 
326,  Preface. 

Sebonde,  377. 

Second  Coming,  Jesus,  18. 

Sf.kley,  John  Roi!F.rt.  Founder  of 
Christianity,  laid  man  under  obligation, 
transcendent  greatness,  miracles,  Power, 
Sympathy,  Personal  pretensions,  "Christ 
the  Sun  determining  our  orbit,"  Christ 
himself  the  great  Fact,  beneficent  deeds, 


wise  words,  Example,  habitual  Goodness, 

Holiness,  gives  the  Holy  Spirit,  cross,  198, 

Preface. 
Self-Assertion,  325,  345. 
Self-Comrnand,  83. 
Self-Consciousness,  Preface,  16,  17,  18,  19, 

22,66.     As  Messiah,  iii,   186,   216,221, 

266,  319,  egoism  stupendous  and  persist- 
ent. 325.  ZZ^^  352,  436,  446,  474.  536, 
537.  553- 

Self-Deiiial,  80,  5S6. 

"  Self-Revelation  of  God,"  Samuel  Harris, 

595- 

Sen,  Keshub  Chundeu.  Highest  rever- 
ence for  character,  and  lofty  ideal,  a  ne- 
cessity of  his  age,  commissioned  of  Prov- 
idence, vast  moral  influence  of  life  and 
death  still  lives,  stream  of  Christianity 
gives  enlightenment  to  the  world,  Christi- 
anity Asiatic  and  Oriental,  response  of 
universal  consciousness,  forgiveness  and 
self-sacrifice,  moral  serenity,  feared  no 
mortal  man,  consummation  on  cross,  sun 
in  meridian  splendor,  1S8-191. 

Seneca,  496,  571. 

Sent  of  God,  Jesus,  17.  John  Baptist, 
29. 

Sermon   on    Mount,  Priestly,  55,  143,  166, 

267,  308,  403,  450,  503.  "  Not  the  warrior, 
but  the  peacemaker,"  523,  544,  5S3,  594, 
613.615. 

"Sermons,"  Bossuet,  43;  Massillon,  45; 
Buckminster,  96;  Kingsley,  202;  Robert- 
son, 214;  Maclaren,  225;  Newman  Hall, 
278;  Putnam,  339;  Tauler,  441  ;  Simjjson, 
565;  Caird,  56S ;  Peabody,  A.  P.,  571; 
Bellows,  591;  Colenso,  598;  Steel,  649; 
Mason,  669  ;  Sperry,  672  ;  Vaughan,  674  ; 
Griffis,  678. 

Severe,  against  profane.  Law,  67. 

Shaksprarr,  William.  Saviour,  Life 
Eternal,  48. 

Shakspeare,  William,  205,  206,  267,  286, 
294,  321,  327,  344,  353,  386,  394,  477.  502, 
523,  52S,  529,  561,  565,  593.  An  "Eliza- 
bethan Englishman,"  605,  652. 

"Shall  we  call  him  Master.'"  Lesley,  600. 

Shammai,  411. 

Shepherd,  Jesus,  18. 

Sickness,  34,  76,  94.  Always  healed,  hunger 
twice,  Chalmers,  Whatelv,  97,  116,  166, 
172,  395-  436.  479-  650,  669,  680. 

Simeon.  Messiah,  Salvation,  Light  of 
Gentiles,  Glory  of  Israel,  29. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


717 


Simon,  D.  W.  The  Crucified  a  factor  in 
civilized  humanity,  the  world  not  surfeited 
of  the  Cross,  391. 

Simon  the  Cyrenian,  5S2. 

Simplicity,  IJarrow,  70;  and  Wisdom,  86, 
90,  113,  147,  159,  182,  300,  314,  328,  583. 

SiMi'soN,  Matthew.  His  words  were 
spirit  and  life,  an  evident  consciousness 
of  exhaustless  power,  idolatry  of  igno- 
rance Christ  disjicls,  Christ's  thoughts 
sweep  away  other  thoughts,  our  unbe- 
lievers were  brought  up  on  Christianity, 
Paul's  writings  live  because  he  wrote  of 
Christ,  565-568,  Preface. 

Sincerity,  39,  58,  130,  333,  334,  439,  675. 
See  Truth. 

Sinlessness,  Jesus,  17,  19.  Peter,  23,  24. 
Hebrews,  27,  28.  Thief  on  cross,  32. 
Pilate  three  times  and  Herod,  3t.  Pilate's 
wife,  32.  Centurion,  32.  Judas,  32. 
Polycarp,  35.  Priestly,  35.  Grotius,  39, 
44.  Jefferson,  50,  57,  63,  64,  69,  72,  76, 
81, 108,  1 14,  1 15,  1 18,  121-124.  Voluntary, 
not  impeccable,  Hodge,  143,  144,  146.  155, 
167,  214-217,  238.  Above  all,  268,  295, 
318.  Must  be  to  be  Saviour,  yet  he 
claimed,  and  sustained  the  unparalleled 
claim,  330,  331,  337,  390,  402.  Absence 
of  self-reproach,  435.  Consciousness  of, 
444;  and  positively  ethical,  Mulford,  445. 
Gives  transcendent  power  to  his  person- 
ality, claims  to  be  sinless,  claim  allowed, 
446.  Because  full  of  love,  491.  "  In  the 
sight  of  Deity,"  Hausrath,  501.  "  Xo 
prayer  for  forgiveness,"  557.  Sanctity, 
594.     No  consciousness  of  sin,  614,  665. 

"Sinlessness  of  Jesus,"  Ullmann,  107. 

Slaverv,  272,  393.  Cato,  work  old  slaves  to 
death,  428,  448. 

Smith,  Adam,  326. 

Smith,  Goldwin.  Christianity  rests  on 
benevolence,  love  to  man,  Christ  an  ab- 
solute embodiment  of  love  in  action  and 
affection,  cannot  antagonize  moral  prog- 
ress of  the  race,  perfect,  it  is  final,  hu- 
manity will  advance  towards  the  Christian 
type,  a  life  of  pure  beneficence,  has  not  a 
taint  of  Jewish,  Greek,  Roman  peculiarity, 
therefore  universal,  no  factitious  virtues, 
free  from  asceticism,  279-284.  A  crisis 
began  with  him,  commencement  of  spir- 
itual life,  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  new 
names  for  new  things,  introduced  moral 
aspiration,   moral   ideal   not   in   Arabian 


Nights  for  example,  but  in  Christian 
fiction,  3S1,  3S2,  Preface. 

Smith,  G.  Vance.  The  spirit  of  Christ 
the  spirit  of  truth  and  justice,  love  to  man 
and  God,  active  obedience,  sympathy, 
prayer  to  the  Father,  readiness  to  meet 
the  Divine  will,  forgiveness,  361-363. 

Smith,  Hlnry  V,.  HLs  historic  supremacy, 
the  urn  of  destiny  with  no  dead  ashes, 
ideal  of  humanity,  his  influence  the  marvel 
of  history,  264,  Preface. 

Smith,  John  Pve.  The  unrivalled  Man, 
intellectually  and  morally  perfect,  gentle 
virtues,  love,  resignation,  prudence,  knowl- 
edge of  man,  wisdom,  fortitude,  greatest 
moral  phenomenon  of  universe,  praised 
of  his  enemies,  union  of  wisdom  and  holi- 
ness, meekness  and  majesty,  goodness,  99. 

Smith,  K.  Bosworth.  Mohammedans 
eulogize  Christ,  "  on  whom  be'  peace," 
grave  reserved  by  side  of  Mohammed  in 
Medina  mosque,  274,  275. 

Smyth,  Julian  K.  It  is  himself  that  is 
Christianity,  he  is  the  Truth,  Word  made 
flesh,  sinless  inadequately  expresses 
Christ's  sanctity,  593,  594. 

Smyth,  Newman.  Not  all  in-seers  com- 
bined saw  heaven  as  the  Son  of  man, 
"  every  synagogue  a  problem  of  humanity," 
he  walks  on  the  sea  of  life,  452-455. 

Sociability  a  part  of  his  religion,  425. 

Socrates,  Preface,  and  Jesus,  J  ustin  MartjT, 
37.  Voltaire,  46.  Rousseau,  47.  Priestly, 
52-56.  Hegel,  64.  Riggenbach,  113. 
Pressense,  117,  125,  127,  129,  180.  Theo- 
dore Parker,  239,  241,  249,  250,  251,  253, 
268,  273,  316,  319,  326,  337,  354,  382,  3S3, 
3S5,  419,  440,  45-.  467.  474.  478,  5-1.  5-8. 
529,  561.  Discoursed  on  immortality,  but 
could  not  say,  "  I  am  the  Resurrection," 
594,611,632.655. 

"  Socrates  and  Jesus  compared,"  Priestly,  52. 

Solomon,  235,  329,  405,  606,  655. 

Son  of  David,  291,  410,  675. 

Son  of  God,  Jesus,  14.  Peter,  14.  Mark, 
20.  Hebrews,  28.  Philip  and  Nathanael, 
30.  Origen,  35.  Bossuet,  43.  Wesley, 
50,84.  Neander,  91,  97,  119,  131.  Renan, 
155,  225,  234,  252,  256,  264,  267,  271,  277, 
315,  329,  340.  Or  audacious  blasphem- 
er, Tischendorf,  369.  37S.  408,  417,  418, 
431,  444,  450,  485.  Son  of  the  living  God, 
510,  533,  538,  562.  "The  Best  personified 
in  man,"  601,  603,  642,  643,  666. 


7i8 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Son  of  Man,  Jesus,  14,  17,  146,  164,  165, 
216,  225.  256,  264,  291,  387,  452,  463,  474, 
482,  519,  551,  603,  613.     Humanity,  674. 

"  Son  of  Man,"  Bibliotheca  Sacra,  Tyler, 
3S6. 

Son  of  Mary,  3S0,  635. 

Sophocles,  209,  528. 

Sorrow,  sacred  to  him,  307,  423,  535,  550. 

Sosiosh,  256. 

Southey,  Robert,  671. 

Sparta,  284,  424. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  454. 

Spenser,  Edmund,  605. 

Sperry,  Willard  G.  Never  tried  to 
conciliate  Pharisees,  they  envied  him, 
672. 

Spinoza,  Benedict.  Perfect  Man,  revealed 
truth  to  apostles,  Moses'  similar,  his  voice 
God's  voice,  Wisdom,  Salvation,  42,  43. 
"The  symbol  of  Divine  Wisdom,"  294. 

Spirit,  Holy,  and  Jesus,  Baptism,  Witness, 
15,  19.  Dove,  20.  Anointed  him,  Luke, 
22,  24.     Dove,  John  Baptist,  29,  76,  338, 

344.  373.  4 '7.  425.  448- 

"  Spirit  and  Mind,"  Smith,  G.  V.,  362. 

"  Spiritual  Christianity,"  Taylor,  Isaac,  100. 

"Spiritual  Religion,"  Drummond,  131. 

Sturgeon,  Charles  Haddon.  No  salva- 
tion without  a  Saviour,  Christ  himself, 
not  a  Physician  to  heal  and  then  good-by, 
never  can  outgrow  Christ,  Christ  alone 
enough,  no  candle  with  this  sun,  469, 
Preface. 

Stael,  Madame  de,  "Two  eras,  pre-Chris- 
tian, post-Christian,"  135. 

Stalker,  James.  Love  to  men  his  master 
passion,  the  crowning  attribute  love  to 
God,  he  realized  God  always,  absolute 
harmony  with  God,  Sinlessness  and  ful- 
ness of  love,  history  cut  in  twain  by  thi:5 
Regenerator,  4S9-493,  Preface. 

"  Stalker's  Life  of  Christ,"  Lorimer,  493. 

Stanley,  Arthur  Penrhyn.  His  coming 
a  "  new  birth  of  time,"  not  a  conqueror, 
but  life.  Oriental,  Greek,  and  Roman  in 
one,  took  the  world  by  surprise,  257,  25S. 

"Statement  of  Reasons,"  Norton,  176. 

Steel,  Thomas  Henry.  The  Lord  of 
Life  and  Jairus'  daughter,  Lazarus,  the 
Resurrection,  649-652. 

Stier,  Rudolph.  Son  of  God,  the  Gos- 
pels a  sure  testimony,  the  solution  of  the 
mystery  of  history  and  of  each  man. 
Wisdom  and  Salvation,  105. 


Stoics,  57 ;  and  Christ,  Paley,  61 ;  and 
Christ:  Christ  did  no  violence  to  human 
nature,  86,  127.  Epictetus,  170,  226,  447, 
613. 

Stone,  Foundation,  Peter,  23. 

Storrs,  Richard  S.  Brilliant  names  fade, 
but  name  of  Jesus  continues  to  command, 
even  more  widely,  his  career  remains  al- 
ways in  sight,  the  supreme  Man,  governs 
governments,  new  ages  date  from  him, 
361,  362,  Preface.  Gave  new  and  nobler 
conception  of  God,  the  Divine  purity  re- 
splendent in  Jesus,  History  made  clear 
with  hopefulness  and  courage  in  it,  exalts 
man  to  receive  such  a  revelation  of  God, 
Character  made  essentia],  the  Church  fol- 
lowed a  practical  ideal,  543-550. 

SrowE,  Harriet  Beecher.  The  most 
beloved  of  men,  his  personality  pervades 
the  world,  excites  men's  adoration,  all 
nations,  "Whom  having  not  seen,  ye 
love,"  273. 

Strauss,  David.  As  little  as  humanity 
without  religion  as  little  will  be  religion 
without  Christ,  Christ  is  historical,  not 
myth,  the  highest  model  of  religion,  286. 
Jesus  in  the  first  class  of  improvers  of 
ideals,  embodied  the  ideal  of  human  na- 
ture and  gave  it  vital  warmth  and  by  his 
religious  society  gave  it  widest  acceptance, 
his  pattern  develops  every  part  of  love  to 
God  and  our  neighbor,  36S. 

Strauss,  David,  Preface,  197,  209,  218,  263. 
"The  beautiful  nature,"  271.  "  Strauss's 
later  life  is  more  impressed  by  the  char- 
acter of  Christ,"  399,  439,  54S,  593.  "  Ac- 
complished the  contrary  of  what  he  in- 
tended," Harris,  595. 

"  Studies  in  Life  of  Christ,"  Fairbaini,  439. 

"Studies  in  New  Testament,"  Godet,  320. 

"Studies  of  Christianity,"  Martineau,  3S2. 

"Studies  of  the  Divine  Master,"  Griffith, 
41S. 

"Study  of  History,"  G.  Smith,  279. 

Sublimity,  76,  97,  300. 

Suffering,  443. 

"Suffer  little  children,"  21.  Webster 
(thrice),  1S5,  186,  226. 

Sun,  illuminates  universe,  impartial  bount)', 
Barrow,  69,  70.  In  cloudless  sky,  97. 
Meridian  sun  in  heaven,  98.  As  natural 
as  sunlight,  147.  Which  makes  our  orbit, 
Sceley,  199.217.  Girdled  the  earth,  lighted 
the  zones  with  its  splendors,  Collier,  247. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


719 


Sun  of  which  heathen  mediators  are  par- 
helia, 256.  In  mid-day  strength,  26S.  Of 
Righteousness  full -orbed,  332.  Not  a 
fading  star,  337.  Of  which  the  Bible  is 
the  moon,  418.  Sun  one,  and  one  Divine 
Lord,  Martineau,  434.  "Their  emblem 
the  stars,  his  the  sun,"  Encyc.  Brit.,  447. 
No  candle  to  aid  this  sun,  Spurgeon,  470. 
Known  by  its  beams,  4S1,  572.  Outshin- 
ing all  lesser  luminaries,  601. 

Superiority  to  ingratitude,  131,  309,  405. 

"Supernatural  Character  of  Christianity," 
Allon,  173. 

"Supernatural  Religions,"  642. 

Sutras,  540. 

Swedenborg,  Emanuel,  379,  524,  525. 

Swing,  David.  His  word  ecclesia  shows 
religion  for  the  people,  Christ  reversed  the 
genius  of  religion,  432. 

Symmetry  and  Harmony,  5S4. 

Sympathy,  82,  84,  174,  199,  301,  3,7,  3,9^ 
362,  3S6,  533. 

Syro-Phenician  Woman  and  Jesus,  67S-6S0. 

"Systematic  Theology,"  Hodge,  141. 

"  Table-Talk,"  Luther,  38. 

Tacitus,  209,  496,  528,  529. 

Talcott,  Daniel  Smith.  Sound  and 
balanced  human  intellect,  either  what  he 
claims  or  an  impostor,  yet  devoted  to 
goodness,  new  style  of  character  in  the 
world,  2S6. 

Talmage,  Thomas  De  Witt  ("Around 
the  Tea-Table  ").  "  Touched  with  the  feel- 
ing of  our  infirmities,"  a  Throne  against 
which  strike  our  perplexities,  the  great 
nerve-centre  of  all  our  lives,  5S7. 

Talmud,  34,  210. 

Taoism,  400. 

Tauler,  John.  Jesus  the  loadstone  and 
magnet,  makes  us  even  rise  contrary  to 
nature,  441,  Preface. 

Tayler,  John  James.  Full  and  confiding 
union  with  God,  as  the  source  and  prin- 
ciple of  his  moral  being,  through  him  the 
Spirit  of  the  Father  spoke  clearly  and  in- 
telligibly to  men,  the  true  believers  in  his 
Divinity  are  those  who  glo7(i  at  his  life,  so 
the  Church  will  become  divine,  ^27~jj9^ 
Preface. 
Taylor,  Isaac.  Compared  with  heroes, 
his  character  the  perfection  of  contrasts. 
Humility  yet  Head  of  the  human  race. 
Oneness  of  character,  Teacher,  Meekness, 


King,  Judge  of  nations,  his  character  un- 
matched    in     history,    the    combination 
unprecedented,    purest    morality   but    no 
asceticism.    Wisdom,    harmonies    inimit- 
able, 100-102,  Preface. 
Taylor,  Jeremy.     Example,  excellent  and 
perfect,    Saviour,    Sinless,    Holy,  44,  45. 
"Not  get   to   Christ,  be  in  Christ"  (M. 
Arnold),  375,  Preface. 
Teacher,  Matthew,  20.     Peter,  23.     Xicode- 
mus,    31.      Clement    of    Alexandria,    33. 
Augustine,  34.    Josephus,   38.     Kempis, 
40.    Jefferson,  50.     Wesley,  50.    Teacher 
of   morals   not   exceeded,   T.    Paine,    52. 
Compared  with  Socrates,  Priestly,  52-56. 
System  of  morals  superior  to  all,  Frank- 
lin,   60,    72,    76,    82,    83,    95,    lOI,     105. 
"The  insights  of  a  perfect  soul,"  Hase, 
119,    122,    137,    140,    148,     151.      "Self- 
consciousness,"    Bunsen,    154,    179,    217, 
219,     226.      Confident,    249,     267,     269, 
2S9,   292,  29S,  307.     "Immense   distance 
from    all   others,"   319,  321.      "Teacher 
of   the   wisest   and   best   portion   of   the 
race,"     Hopkins,     332,     340,     3S9,    395. 
"  Surpasses  all  moral  instruction,"  Locke, 
403,  40S.      "Fresh   and  vital,"  411,  446. 
Described  and   analyzed,  447,  475.     His 
words  the  new  map  of  the  Divine  King- 
dom, he  says  impromptu  the  best  things 
in  the  best  way,  4S4.     His  words  mighty, 
soft   in   strength,  P'airbairn,  484.     Made 
the   important  truths  plain   and   certain, 
Hill,  505.    Addressed  himself  to  the  very 
quick  of  conscious  experience,  himself  is 
the  great  fact,  514.     Every  thing  becomes 
a   living   symbol   of   truth,  sparrow,  lily, 
525.     Used  natural  scenes,  537.    The  kind 
that  will  redeem  Africa,  5S3.     Illustrated 
and   from    life,  5S3.     "  Resist   not    evil," 
Tolstoi,  621.    "  Unparalleled,"  654.    And 
Healer,  G69. 
Temptation  of  Jesus,  667. 
Tennyson,  "  In  Memoriam,"  454,  Preface. 
Terence,  209. 
Tertullian,  43. 

Testimony,  to  himself.  Preface.     See  y,s!is. 
"  Testimony    of    Christ    to    Christianity," 

Bayne,  29S. 
"  Testimony  of  Evangelists,"  Greenleaf,  313, 
"  Theism  of  Jesus,"  Walker,  65S. 
Themistocles,  371,  611. 
"Theological  Essays,"  Hutton,  434. 
"  Theology  of  Christ,"  Thompson,  159. 


720 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Theology  tht  haven  of  science,  Bacon,  135. 

Theophilus,  21. 

Tholuck,  Frederick  A.  G.  Left  dis- 
ciples in  benediction,  Redeemer,  Saviour, 
his  Ascension  compared  with  Elijah's, 
their  One  and  All,  124,  125,  Preface. 

Thom,  John  Hamilton.  Harmony  of 
Divine  character,  Image  of  the  Father, 
Infinite  Perfection,  a  character  not  origi- 
nated by  man,  but  bestowed,  186. 

Thomas,  18,  216,  227,  460,  662. 

Thompson,  Hugh  Miller.  The  great 
Miracle,  he  was  as  he  claims  "  the  Ex- 
pected of  thirty  centuries,"  neither  Jew, 
Greek,  nor  Roman,  "has  no  race-mark," 
the  Providence  of  his  appearing,  604-611. 

Thompsov,  Joseph  P.  Simplicity  as 
Teacher,  compared  with  Demosthenes, 
his  truth  a  part  of  himself,  world  has  not 
outgrown,  159,  160,  Preface. 

Thornwell,  James  Henry.  Cross  ex- 
hibits love  to  God,  love  to  man,  in  meas- 
ure unrivalled,  274. 

"  Thoughts,"  Pascal,  41. 

"  Three  Essays  on  Religion,"  Mill,  324. 

"Through  Nature  to  Christ,"  E.  A.  Abbott, 
424. 

Tiberius,  would  apotheosize  Christ,  63,  367. 

TisciiENDORF,  Constantine  ("Bremen 
Lectures  ").  Life  of  Jesus,  the  great  ques- 
tion of  the  day.  Divine  character,  the 
agreement  of  the  Evangelists  of  greatest 
consequence,  368,  369,  Preface. 

"Toleration,"  Voltaire,  46. 

ToLsrof,  Leo  N.  His  doctrine  "  Resist  not 
evil,"  not  violence  but  good  overcomes 
evil,  the  salvation  of  Jesus  the  true  salva- 
tion, the  doctrine  of  Jesus  the  mercy  of  the 
world,  the  church  that  shall  not  perish, 
621-630. 

Townsem),  Luther  T.  New  sunshine  in 
a  new  world,  holds  truth  m  reserve,  Calm- 
ness, Teacher  confident  rather  than  mod- 
est, Gentleness,  Grandeur,  Patience, 
Perfection,  Eloquent,  249,  250,  Preface. 

"  Tractatus  Theological  Political,"  Spinoza, 
42. 

Transformer  of  the  world,  Massillon,  45. 

Treasure,  Kempis,  41. 

Trench,  Richard  Chenevix.  Desire  of 
all  nations,  the  harmony  of  ail  past  good, 
dreams  become  realities,  Son  of  God, 
Incarnation,  all  Fulness,  King  of  Glory, 
Prophet,  Priest,  119-121,  Preface. 


"True  and  Beautiful,"  Ruskin,  455. 

"True  Gospel,"  Chubb,  45. 

"  True  Humanity  of  Christ,"  Crosby,  438. 

Truth,  Jesus,  17;  also  19,  '^Tj.  Embodi- 
ment, 439. 

"Truths  of  Christianity,"  Grotius,  39; 
Luthardt,  177. 

"  Truths  of  Christian  Religion,"  Hartley, 
So. 

"  Truths  of  To-day,"  Swing,  432. 

TuLLOCH,  John.  Christ  is  Christianity, 
the  Alpha  and  Omega,  in  this  different 
from  other  religions,  character  of  Christ 
the  motive  of  Christianity,  245,  246, 
Preface. 

Tyler,  William  S.  A  complete  ideal  not 
a  fragment,  had  no  individual  idiosyn- 
crasies, not  many-sided,  but  all-sideJ,  all- 
minded,  all-hearted,  had  no  prejudices, 
no  national  peculiarities,  presented  great- 
est but  imitable  virtue,  Son  of  Man,  Son 
of  God,  386,  Preface. 

Ullmann,  Karl.  Lord,  penetrated  by 
God's  spirit.  Benevolence,  love  of  God  in 
human  form,  sinless,  his  moral  image  the 
dearest  possession  of  humanity,  unlimited 
perfection,  unapproachable  dignity,  un- 
conditioned action,  unity,  Art  tries  to 
portray,  not  Christ  grows  by  us,  but  we 
grow  in  comprehending,  towers  above 
us,  influences  in  inmost  life,  part  of 
inmost  humanity,  107-109. 

Ulysses,  367.  ^ 

Unchangeable,  Heljrews,  27,  28. 

"  Unitarian  Christianity,"  Beard,  495. 

"Unitarian  Review,"  Liverniore,  370; 
Clarke,  J.  F.,  393 ;  Chaffin,  523. 

Unity  of  character,  "harmonies  inimitable," 
Taylor,  100;  Luther,  178.  "Like  his 
own  seamless  garment,"  combination  of 
elements  excites  my  astonishment,  Hop- 
kins, 330,  603. 

Universal  Religion,  189,  305. 

"  University  Sermons,"  Vaughan,  674. 

Unselfishness,  595,  334,  335,  405,  676. 

"  Unspoken  Sermons,"  Macdonald,  416 

Utopia  of  Plato,  Rousseau,  2S4,  3S1. 

Vaughan,  C.  J.  Gospels  read  afresh.  Son 
of  God,  manly,  manful,  humane,  human, 
fi)rce  of  will,  sincerity,  tenderness,  unself- 
ishness, humility,  elevation,  workingmen 
and  poor,  674-678. 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


72  I 


Vedas,  394,  659. 

Venus  di  Medici,  207. 

Veracity,  251.     See  Truth,  Siticerity. 

Veronica,  377. 

Verplanck,  Gulian  C.  The  Gospels  re- 
markable for  artlessness  and  solemn 
composure,  narrate  and  do  not  argue  or 
embellish,  92-94,  Preface. 

"  Vestals  but  not  Sisters  of  Charity "  in 
heathendom,  Everett,  192. 

Victoria,  5S7. 

Victor  in  love,  Bossuet,  44. 

Vincent,  M.  R.  A  nineteei^th-century  man 
must  think  of  Christ,  he  cannot  be  ban- 
ished nor  got  past,  a  troublesome  fact, 
"he  dieth  no  more,"  440,  Preface. 

Vine,  Jesus,  19. 

ViNET,  Alexander.  Christ  is  Chris- 
tianity, "  one  Christian  moment  more  than 
all  unchristian  life,"  125,  126,  Preface. 

Virgil,  206,  371.  Fourth  Eclogue,  381,  412, 
433.  440,  528. 

Virtues,  all,  Rousseau,  48 ;  Jefferson,  50. 
Active  and  passive,  116.  Combined, 
Perowne,  145. 

Vishnu,  Parker,  242. 

"Voices  of  the  Church,"  Coquerel,  261. 

"Voices  of  the  Church,"  Miiller,  217. 

"Voices  of  the  Church,"  Quinet,  103. 

Voltaire,  Francois  Marie  Alouet  de. 
Compared  with  Socrates,  Christian  legis- 
lator, voluntary  death.  Divinity  and 
Humanity,  Patience,  Courage,  46. 

Volusian,  Chateaubriand,  63. 

Walker,  C.  S.  Christ's  revelation  of  the 
Deity,  involves  no  error  and  lacks  noth- 
ing, 658-660. 

Walker,  James.  His  Originality,  Great- 
ness, a  miracle  that  the  Evangelists 
should  have  conceived  it,  or  even  de- 
scribed it,  235,  236. 

Walker,  James  Barr.  Messiah  not  of 
the  Greek  idea  (Teacher),  such  as  to  kill 
selfishness  and  develop  benevolence,  Hu- 
mility, Meekness  necessary  to  rest,  137- 
139,  Preface. 

Ware,  Henry,  Jun.  E.xalted  honor  his 
due,  receives  eloquent  tributes  from  in- 
fidels, 169,  170,  Preface. 

Washburn,  Edward  A.  Son  of  God,  the 
miracle  and  makes  miracles,  teachings 
satisfy,  highest  Master  of  wisdom,  none 
other  holds  supremacy  of    the  race,  his 


enemies  waste  their  wit  to  find  a  newer 
gospel,  Sinlessness,  Divine  Man,  Resur- 
rection, Imitation  of  Christ  the  highest 
morality,  267-269,  Preface. 

Washington,  George,  430,  467.  Christ's 
moulding  power,  601. 

Watson,  Robert  A.  "  Gospels  of  Yester- 
day," "Divine  Light  of  compassion  and 
righteousness  burns  into  a  focus  of  illu- 
mination," What  is  Matthew  Arnold^s 
Christ .''  The  Supremacy  of  Jesus,  507,  50S. 

Watt,  James,  404. 

"  Waverley,"  Scott,  671. 

Webster,  Daniel.  "Suffer  little  chil- 
dren," will  not  be  outgrown,  1S5,  370. 

"  Week  with  Jesus,"  Lowrie,  206. 

Weiss,  Bernhard.  Sinlessness,  consci- 
entiousness, never  prays  for  forgiveness, 
445,  446,  Preface. 

Wescott,  Brooke  Foss.  The  Resurrec- 
tion, His  appearances  after  Resurrection, 
the  Revelation  of  the  risen  Christ,  in  him 
first  the  corruptible  puts  on  incorruption, 
661-664. 

"  Wesen  des  Christenthums,"  De  Wette, 
342. 

Wesley,  John.  Lord,  Teacher,  Divinity, 
Son  of  God,  Humility,  Gentleness,  Found- 
er of  Christianity,  49,  50. 

Wesley,  Charles.  "Jesus  my  strength,  my 
hope,"  193. 

West,  Benjamin,  404. 

Whately,  Richard  ("Bacon's  Essays"). 
His  character  proves  his  religion,  three 
points  in  Evangelists'  account,  unstudied, 
no  panegyric,  44-46.  Lord,  miracles, 
healed  sick,  but  rarely  hunger,  economic 
lesson  (see  Chalmers),  omniscient,  97, 
Preface. 

Whittier,  Preface. 

Widow's  mite,  73. 

Will :  Shakspeare,  48;  Dickens,  289. 

Williams,  John.  His  religion  capable  of 
universal  adaptation,  a  permanence  not 
fossilized,  a  continuous  limitless  expan- 
sion, developed  human  intelligence,  the 
influence  of  Christianity  on  the  education 
and  morality  of  the  nations  the  great 
fact  of  modern  times,  538-542,  Preface. 

Williams,  William  R.  Christ  the  centre 
of  history,  his  Cross  the  conservative  prin- 
ciple of  literature,  philanthropy,  Saviour, 
gospel  practicable  and  utilitarian,  "Exalts 
the  future,"  135-137,  Preface. 


722 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Wilson,  John,  Prof.,  671. 

WiNTHROP,  Robert  C.  We  reckon  from 
the  year  of  our  Lord,  as  if  no  time  worthy 
to  be  counted  before,  Christmas,  the 
Christian  spirit  and  life,  influence  of 
Christ,  "  new  heavens   and   new  earth," 

192,  193,  Preface. 

Wisdom  :  Matthew,  20  ;  Josephus,  38  ; 
Luther,  38 ;  Spinoza,  43 ;  Rousseau,  48, 
56,  68,  83;  and  simplicity,  86;  Chalmers, 
95,  99,   loi,  105,  115,  140,  174,  176,  179, 

193.  267,  314,  670. 
Wolfenbiittel,  218. 

Woman,  272,  348.  Elevation  by  Christ,  476, 
488,  590. 

Wood,  William  Converse.  Jesus  con- 
tained germs  of  all  greatness,  potentially, 
might  have  been  Poet,  General,  King, 
Orator,  Philanthropist,  Scientist,  Analyst 
of  character,  but  subordinated  them  all 
to  be  Saviour,  667,  668. 

Word  of  God,  John,  22.  Of  revealing  truth, 
126,  393,  496.  Made  flesh,  593;  and 
wisdom,  617. 

"  Words  of  Jesus,"  Stier,  105. 

Wordsworth,  John.  The  pattern  of  the 
God-Man,  create  a  Christ  by  imagination, 
the  Oriental,  Persian,  Chinese,  Greek, 
Roman,  and  Teuton,  Christ's  actual  ap- 
pearance the  true  Ideal,  506. 

Wordsworth,  William,  343,  671. 

Workingmen  and  poor,  677. 

"  Works  :  "  Clement  of  Alexandria,  33  ; 
Origen,  35  ;  Cyprian,  36  ;  Bacon,  40  ; 
Jeremy  Taylor,  44;  Hooker,  46;  Rousseau, 
47 ;  Samuel  Johnson,  49 ;  John  Wesley, 
49;  Jefferson,  50;  Leighton,  59;  Paley, 
61;  Barrow,  68;  Locke,  75;  Edwards, 
78;  Hall,  82;  Chalmers,  94;  Emerson, 
149;  Ware,  169;  Webster,  185;  Chan- 
ning,  210;  Dewey,  243;  Thornwell,  274. 

"  World  and  the  Kingdom,"  Thompson,  604. 


"  World's  Witness  to  Christ,"  Williams, 
538. 

Wright,  George  Frederick.  His  argu- 
ment for  personal  immortality,  if  man  is 
worthy  such  Divine  visitation,  if  man  can 
produce  such  excellence,  he  introduced 
the  over-mastering  hope  of  a  Christian 
faith,  Divine  forgiveness.  Originality  and 
Beauty  of  Jesus,  they  manifest  human 
simplicity,  but  supernatural  design  like 
nature,  his  titne  did  not  produce  him, 
508-511,  Preface. 

Writer  of  Hebrews.  Son  of  God,  efful- 
gence of  his  glory,  Image,  Purification, 
better  than  angels,  crowned  with  glory 
and  honor  and  salvation,  27. 

Writer,  Jesus  not  an  author,  "  wrote  only  in 
dust,"  109,  351,  524. 

Xavier,  206,  612. 

Xenophon,  on  Socrates,  Priestly,  54,  56; 
and  Socrates,  113,  226. 

Ygdrasil,  the  tree,  Christianit)',  598. 

Young,  John.  Perfection  of  character, 
difficult  to  study,  perfect  symmetry  does 
not  startle,  always  acts  up  to  the  idea  of 
perfect  humanity,  equal  intellect  and 
heart,  simplicity,  among  all  classes  and 
conditions,  original  character,  impossible 
to  invent  especially  such  a  Messiah,  the 
One  vision  of  humanitj',  the  Jew  of  Naza- 
reth, 181-185,  Preface. 

Young,  the,  Jesus,  21,  186.  "A  familiar 
companion,"  3S6,  545. 

Zacchaeus,  460. 

Zeal,  71,  99,  167;  "never  degenerates  into 

passion,"  348,  414,  482. 
Zeno,  323,  453. 
Zeuxis,  68. 
Zoroaster,  249,  316,  354,  412,  641. 


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